


Champion

by TheTruthHertz



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Ballet, Basketball, Blood, Brief Character Appearance, Child Abuse, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, Feels, Fights, Fluff, Friendship, Gambling, Hurt/Comfort, MMA, Mental Coercion, Slow Burn, Swearing, multiple personalities disorder, racial profiling, tonsil hockey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-06-03 22:45:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 35
Words: 137,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6629995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTruthHertz/pseuds/TheTruthHertz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new home.  A new school.  New challenges and new people to meet.  Pearl Tancerz takes a bold step forward, eager to face this opportunity.  Jokes will be laughed at, memories will be forged, and friends may become something more.</p><p>Garnet Erutav is a teenager of few words but many mysteries.  Will she find success in her goals or will things spiral out of control?</p><p>***Rated M for later chapters.  Chapters 1-21 are rated T.*** Specific warnings are posted by chapter in the notes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Newcomer

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting a fanfic I've written, I hope you enjoy it! As the story continues the tags and warnings will be updated. The plan is to post a new chapter each week.
> 
> All characters and locations, besides any OC's, belong to their genius creator Rebecca Sugar and the world of Steven Universe.

 

^^^^^^

Pearl navigates a new city and a new school.

^^^^^^

 

            “Turn right onto Stony Leaf Street.”

            “Turn left onto Turning Vista Boulevard.”

            Light footfalls continued on their guided path, changing directions as instructed.  This place was new, the whole city, and well she felt a little overwhelmed.  A small sigh escaped her thin lips as she clutched her side bag’s strap.  It was heavy with all of the text books and papers she had received today.

_A new school…_

            “Turn right onto Bright Embers Way.”

            She glanced up briefly from her phone to look down the next street she would be traveling down.  It was a little dark; then again, it was getting late.  Another soft sigh, it was the fastest way back home that was available, and that’s all that she cared about.  Her feet continued down the street, determined to get home as soon as possible.  The hairs on her lanky, pale, arms stood up on end as she kept on walking.

            “Miss!” a distant voice called.  Pearl ignored it; no one had a reason to talk to her.

            “Miss!” the voice repeated much closer now, coming from right behind her.

            “Miss!” the voice called out yet again, accompanied by a large hand on her shoulder.

            She quickly turned around and took a defensive step away from whoever was apparently trying to talk to her.  Her light blue eyes took in the tall female figure, her stance didn’t seem threatening, but the reflective sunglasses covering half of her face did little to ease the concern beginning to eat away at her insides.

            “Yes?” she responded to the other.

            “Don’t go down this street, take another route,” the woman’s deep voice stated.

            “Why?” she really didn’t want to change her route.

            “You’re new in town right?”

            A light blush ran across her cheeks at the statement. “Yes…Why-!”

            “Don’t go in this area, stay with the main street until you are past Cotton Log Way, then head up like you need to,” the tall individual interrupted.

            She looked away from the woman with the sunglasses and began to survey the street they were currently on.  Far down on their side was a huddled group of people, several others were scattered all along the sidewalks.  Did she trust this stranger?  Could they be trying to lead her away just so she could hurt her?  The woman with the sunglasses stood there silently, waiting for her to make her decision.  The more she looked around the place, the more her gut seemed uneasy with the idea of traveling through here, especially alone.  The red head swallowed and looked back at the taller woman.

            “Since it’s seems safe to assume you know this area better, I will take your advice and stick to the main street.  Thank you,” she responded and then started walking back to the street she had just come from.

            The other stood there and watched her walk by.  She stole a glance back at the taller woman as she started her detour, the stranger was just standing there still, but this time she was looking down the street.  The red head faced forward and picked up her pace, if she was going to have to go all the way to Cotton Log Way before heading up, she needed to move faster to get home within a reasonable time.  Her fingers quickly revised the path on her phone with the suggested streets name.

            “Recalculating route,” it chimed.

 

            Light blue eyes looked with relief as her new home came into view.  The detour didn’t take as long as originally anticipated, but she was still a whole thirty minutes later than planned.

            _A whole thirty minutes I could have used helping us all unpack or become familiar with the school’s requirements._

            She shut the door and began walking towards her room to put her bag down.  It had been a long week, and she just wanted to sit down and rest.

            “Pearl!” her mom called from down the hall.  “Is that you?”

            Pearl stood up and walked towards her mother.  “Yes it is, I just got back from the school.  The counselor was able to give me all the books I’ll need and my schedule for the semester.”

            “Oh good,” Pearl’s mother smiled as she walked over to give her daughter a brief hug.  “I’m sorry for making you walk back; your father got a call from the shop letting him know that his car was finally ready to be picked up.  The long drive gave it more trouble than we anticipated.  So he was gone with the car and your uncle when you called for a ride.”

            “Don’t worry about it, it gave me a chance to become more familiar with the area and map out a good route without having to worry about traffic.  Plus with all of the driving with the move, my legs enjoyed the time to be active.”

            “Well, once we get more settled in we’re going to look up the dance instructor here that your ballet teacher recommended.  That way you won’t have to worry about sitting around too much.”

            Pearl smiled.  “That would be very nice.”

            “Now how about you tell me about your meeting with the school counselor while helping me unpack the kitchen?”

            “She was very nice, her name is Rose Universe,” Pearl began as opened up boxes and removed the dishes, pots, silverware, and more within them.

 

            Monday came too soon for Pearl’s liking.  Having to figure out where to sit in her first class of the day was even less to her liking.

            _Never mind that I will need to do this for all eight of my classes…_

            The teacher looked up from his desk as he noticed Pearl moving slowly from the front towards the various desks set in groups.

            “Are you the new student Pearl Tancerz?”

            “Y-yes,” Pearl slightly panicking at the couple of heads turning her direction at the words of “new student”.

            “I’m Mr. Martin, we are all seated in groups of four or so to work on assignments together.”

            “Oh…” the red head had no idea where she should go.

            “I’ll put you over there with Lapis’s group, they are a trio right now and need a fourth,” he said as he motioned over to a table with a girl with glasses and a laptop sitting next to another who looked like she was sleeping.  Mr. Martin began walking over to them, Pearl followed quickly behind.

            “Lapis,” Mr. Martin addressed the sleeping tan student.

            She slowly sat up and looked over at them.  “Yes Mr. Martin?”  Lapis had dark brown hair that transitioned to a striking blue as it reached its shoulder length cut.  She wore a simple hoodie displaying the school’s mascot swimming and palming a ball aggressively.  Her simple outfit was completed with a pair of dark blue sweat pants.  Blue eyes looked tired and less than thrilled at being disturbed.      

            “This is Pearl Tancerz she’s a new student and she will joining your group; please help her out if she has any questions.”

            “Yes Sir,” Lapis responded with a mock salute.

            “Thank you.”  He turned to Pearl.  “Class will begin shortly; I trust that you will be able to catch up with everyone quickly.”

            Pearl nodded.  “Thank you.”

            The teacher walked away as Pearl took a seat next to the sleepy Lapis.  The girl with the laptop looked up briefly.

            “I hope you’re not some clod who can’t understand basic calculus, I won’t have my grade dropped due to your lack of performance in the group tests.” A slight grimace was evidence on her face.

            Pearl was about to reply when Lapis beat her to it.

            “Lay off Peri, she just sat down.  Besides she wouldn’t be in this if she didn’t have some mathematical inclination,” Lapis mumbled from her desk.

            Peri, grumbled, but didn’t say anything in response.  The teenager with the laptop had short light blonde hair that was spiked up in the middle and stuck out partially on the sides.  Green eyes were glued to the screen in front of her.  She was small, Pearl wasn’t entirely sure if Peri’s feet touched the floor when she sat down in her seat.

            “That’s Peridot by the way, she’s not as bad as she can seem.  Just don’t do anything to her computer,” Lapis spoke to Pearl.  “What year are you?”

            “I am a junior,” Pearl answered.  “What year are you two?”

            “Peri and I are also juniors. About half of the class are juniors, while the other half are seniors.”

            Another student sat down in the fourth desk of the group, busily texting away on his phone.

            “And that’s Chuck he’s the other member of our group, and a senior.”

            He made a quick peace sign at Pearl before returning back to his phone.  Mr. Martin stood up at the front of the class as the school bell rang.

            “Alright everyone, put your phones away, class is starting.  Today we are going to be starting Limits.”

            The classroom door opened and a tall student walked in and handed a note to the teacher before making her way to her desk.

            “That’s the second one already, please put more effort into arriving on time,” he said to the student.

            She nodded, but made no other response.  Pearl’s eyes followed the figure as she powerfully strode to her desk and sat down.  She was taller than Pearl, with sunglasses covering half of her serious face, and thick curly hair poofed out in a cubish afro.  Very much like the person who had stopped her the other day from walking down that one street.  Pearl still had no idea why going down that street was such a bad idea.

            “That’s Garnet by the way,” Lapis spoke to her in a quieter voice as the teacher continued on with the instructions for the day.

            “What-” Pearl began.

            “You were staring,” Peridot stated, still not even looking up from her computer.

            A light blush covered Pearl’s cheeks.  “I-I, she looked familiar that’s all.”

            “It’s pretty common for people to stare at Garnet; she’s tall and has a mysterious air about her,” Lapis commented as she waved her hand around.

            “She’s not as tall as Jasper,” Peridot replied.

            Lapis just shrugged as she pulled out her note pad and began writing down the steps the teacher was writing out on the board.  Pearl did the same.  She stole one last glance back towards Garnet.

            _There’s no way it could be the same person; that would mean she would be around my same age._

 

            Pearl stretched out her arms and legs as she walked towards the lunch area, she was a little stiff from sitting for the past 3 hours or so of classes.  Her eyes scanned over the various groups of people gathered together eating lunch.  She swallowed the lump in her throat, she didn’t have anyone to sit with or didn’t even know which areas were already claimed.

            _Not again, this is the worst…_

            Luckily she spotted a familiar individual and decided to try her luck.

            “Hey, Lapis,” Pearl tentatively began as she walked towards Lapis and her other lunch buddy, Peridot.

            “Oh, hey Pearl.”

            Pearl nervously rubbed the side of her arm.  “Would it be ok if I sat with you at lunch today?  I don’t really know which areas have already been claimed…”

            Lapis looked over at Peridot who just shrugged.  “Sure, you can join us.  Just don’t sit across from Peridot.”

            “Thank you.”  Pearl opted to sit in the seat across from Lapis.

            Lapis grumbled as she took out her lunch, a half eaten sandwich, a small bag of carrots, and few wrappers that used to have food in them.

            “If you’d stop eating your lunch before lunch you wouldn’t run into this all the time,” Peridot commented as she absentmindedly pushed the food on her plate around.

            “I can’t help it, I don’t have enough time to pack more and I always get super hungry after morning practice for water polo.  You know how many calories I burn doing that every morning.”

            “Is that also why you were so tired in math this morning?” Pearl asked.

            “Yeah, two hours of swimming while people are trying to drown you gets pretty exhausting,” Lapis answered as she wistfully looked at the remains of her sandwich.

            Pearl made a mental note that the design on Lapis’s sweater had been a depiction of water polo.  She internally chided herself for not realizing it sooner.  A thick slice of pizza on a paper plate was plopped in front of Lapis as a large figure sat down in the chair across from Peridot.

            “Hungry Lapis?” A powerful voice boomed.  “Here, have something healthy as well,” they continued as they tossed an apple to her.

            “Yes!” Lapis cheered as she caught the apple.  “Thank you Jasper, you’re a life saver.”

            Peridot made a face.

            “Hey now Peri, if you were starving I would bring you food as well.”

            “I know that,” she mumbled.

            Jasper turned towards Pearl, just now noticing the newcomer in the group.  “Who is this?”

            Pearl looked up at Jasper and swallowed nervously.  She was huge, tall, broad shoulders, muscular arms, strong chin, light hazel eyes, and a wild mess of sand colored hair that fell down her back.  Peridot wasn’t lying when she said Jasper was taller than Garnet.  Patches of her skin were a lighter pigment.

            _Vitiligo: the skin condition where pigment cells in parts of one’s skin die or are unable to function._

            “Oh that’s Pearl, she’s new,” Lapis supplied as she chowed down on the slice of pizza.  “Pearl, Jasper.  Jasper, Pearl.” She motioned between them.

            Jasper frowned as she continued to stare Pearl down.  “Hmm…ok, I’m alright with her hanging out with us for now.”

            “Your generosity is unbecoming of you Jasper,” Peridot sarcastically commented.

            “Hey!  Just because I can beat your face in doesn’t mean I always will!”

            Pearl turned her attention back to her salad and fruits as the two had a brief mini argument.

            “Don’t worry, it’s mostly harmless and you will get used to it soon enough,” Lapis directed towards Pearl.

            “Oh, good, I was a little concerned there for a moment,” she nervously chuckled.

            The conversation became a steady flow between the three friends as they all worked their way through their lunches.  Pearl was content with just sitting back and learning more about the people she was with.  Jasper always spoke in a loud commanding voice while Peridot was either half in the conversation or doing something on her computer.  Lapis actively participated in discussions with both while stealing glances at any remaining food.  It wasn’t too long before Lapis was trying to sneak some of Peridot’s food that had been left unattended.  However, she wasn’t successful due to Peridot’s surprisingly good reflexes.  A pair of sturdy hands was slammed on the table on the other side of Jasper as a shorter girl with wild, long, platinum, blonde hair took a seat on the table.

            “Jasper!  Want to go shoot some hoops after school today!” she exclaimed.

            “Eh, why?”

            “Why not?!  Don’t you want to get all ready for the season this year?  We are going to kill it, I just know it.”

            “Conditioning isn’t for another month, school has just barely started, and you want to shoot hoops?”

            “And you don’t?”  The other exclaimed.  “Well just so you know, I got a new ball and figured out a way to get into the gym so we can practice all kinds of shots on our home court.  Without triggering any alarms,” she added with a sly grin.

            “How’d you manage that?” Jasper raised an eyebrow at her.

            “Well my original plan was to learn how to pick the locks for one of the side doors, but G caught me while I was practicing.  So she went and just asked for a key from our coach and he said yes.”

            “Classic Amethyst,” Lapis commented.

            Pearl looked at the swimmer with slight confusion.

            “Amethyst likes to do things that will get her in trouble, but usually before that happens Garnet comes in and either stops her or manages to keep her from officially getting in trouble,” Lapis explained.

            “The same Garnet that is in our math class?”

            Lapis nodded.

            “Hey Jasper move your big mane!  You’re blocking my view of the newbie.”  Amethyst shouted as she shifted on the table so she could get a clearer view of Pearl.  “Yo! I’m Amethyst, what’s your name?”

            “Pearl, nice to meet you Amethyst,” Pearl said with slight hesitation.

            “Nice to meet you P!  Yeah Lapis is right, G-man’s always looking out for me.  We’ve been friends for a long time.”

            “That must be nice,” Pearl mused.

            “So you’re new, huh?  Where’d you come from?” Amethyst inquired.

            “Keystone.  We just barely arrived here last week.”

            “Niiice.”

            The five-minute warning bell rang.  Amethyst groaned before hopping off the table and began jogging away.

“Good to meet you Pearl.  Jasper I better see you after school, Garnet is going to be practicing her dunking, I don’t think you want to miss out!” she called back.

            “What?!  You bet your ass I’ll be there!” Jasper shouted back.

 

            Pearl laid down on her bed after coming home from her first day of school.  It was nerve-racking, but not as bad as she had anticipated it to be.  There was potential for a good set of friends, an odd set of friends, but they all seemed nice.  Her classes weren’t too bad, she would be able to make up the two weeks worth of missed work in no time.  Overall, she was tired but content.  She closed her eyes briefly before opening them and glancing at her clock.  3:13pm. She had thirty minutes before she needed to leave for a trial lesson with the recommended dance instructor.


	2. Questions and Answers

 

^^^^^^

Slowly things settle and fall in place for the new student.

^^^^^^

 

            Pearl watched Amethyst laugh at something as she sat with Garnet and a couple of other friends of hers.  Her eyes wandered yet again over to the stoic figure that was for once showing a small smile.

            “You’re starring again,” Lapis commented.

            “What? Oh…!” Pearl blushed.

            “Are you interested in her?”

            “Well, I…”

            “Just admit it you think she’s hot,” Jasper joined in between bites of her sandwich.

            “What! No, I-I…” Pearl tried to formulate a response.  “What do you know about Bright Embers Way?” She abruptly changed topics.

            All three of them stopped what they were doing and looked at Pearl with wary expressions.

            “Why do you want to know?” Lapis broke the silence.

            “Well when I first moved here I had to walk home from the school after picking up my books and class schedule.  I didn’t know the area so I was following the shortest route back to my house.  I was starting down that street when I was stopped by someone who looked a lot like Garnet and was told to go another route.  She actually told me to avoid a whole section of the city, but never said why,” Pearl explained.  “I guess I just want to know is why someone would advise me not to go in that area.”

            “Well…” Lapis began, she gave Jasper an uncomfortable look.

            “Bright Embers Way is the start of a small district that is overrun by shady characters, you normally don’t want to go in that area unless you want to get raped, mugged, stabbed, beaten half to death, or… well you get my point,” she gruffly stated as she counted the things off on her fingers.  “Even the police won’t go down there, too many of them have gotten hurt or worse.”

            Pearl swallowed thickly.  “Oh…”

            “So whoever it was probably just saved your tiny ass.”

            “Do you think Garnet would do something like that?  Warn a complete stranger while potentially putting herself in danger at the same time?”

            Jasper shrugged.  “I don’t know her well enough to say for sure.  I mean yeah I could see her doing that, she’s one of those people who would defend a kid who is being bullied.  Well the more I think about it, it’s very possible, Amethyst has told me of a couple of times those two had gotten into a bad situation in that area, but that they were able to get out mostly because of Garnet.”

            “You could just ask her,” Peridot added.

            “Well, I don’t know, she doesn’t know who I am and well the whole thing could get really awkward really fast,” Pearl stuttered.

            “You’ll never know for sure unless you do ask,” Lapis countered.  “I know she can be a bit intimidating, but overall she’s been cool towards me whenever I’ve talked to her.”

            “Thanks, especially for explaining that to me, it was starting to really bother me,” Pearl smiled.

            “How long ago did this happen?” Jasper asked.

            “Last Friday, so about six days ago.”

            “Hmm, yeah, they totally saved your tiny ass.”

 

            The next day, Pearl walked into her math class a bit earlier than usual; almost a half an hour early.  She looked around expecting to see an empty class, but found one occupant resting her head on her desk.  The red head breathed out slowly, in an attempt to calm her suddenly jittery nerves.  She walked over and took a seat across from the potentially sleeping figure.  When the other didn’t move or respond she cleared her throat.  The mass of curls moved as the owner straightened up in her seat to make eye contact with her.  Pearl assumed she was making eye contact; it was rather hard to tell with those sunglasses.

            “You are Garnet right?”

            She nodded.

            “I-well, my name is Pearl.”

            Garnet gave no response.  Pearl shifted uncomfortably in her seat; she didn’t like the silence she was getting.

            “Did you by chance last Friday tell someone to not go down Bright Embers Way and directed them to a different route?” she decided it was best to go right to the point.

            Another pause of silence.  Pearl was about to say something else to apologize for interrupting her sleep or whatever she was doing, when they spoke up.

            “It was you wasn’t it,” the familiar deep voice stated.

            “Yes,” Pearl nodded.  “I found out why you told me not to go down there and I wanted to thank you for that.  You saved me from a very disastrous situation.”

            “There was a high possibility of a lot of things happening, I’m glad you took my advice.”

            “I am very grateful I did as well.”

            Garnet didn’t say anything else after that.  Pearl sat there for a minute looking around the class, while Garnet, well she couldn’t tell where she was looking, for all she could see the teenager hadn’t moved.

            “Thank you again, Garnet, and I’m glad I got to formally introduce myself to you,” Pearl said as she made a move to stand up.

            “Likewise, Pearl.”

            She couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips as her name rolled off of Garnet’s tongue.  Pearl turned and walked over to her seat and sat down, missing completely the small smile that had appeared on Garnet’s face as well.

 

            “So Pearl, how has your first week been here at Copper Cove High School?” the bubbly woman said as she took a seat in her chair across from the timid teenager.

            “It’s gone fairly good so far, I’ve almost caught up on all the missed work, and I’ve met a few people who may become good friends.”

            “Oh?  And who might those be?”

            “Lapis, Peridot, Jasper, and possibly Amethyst.  The last one I’ve spoken the least to.”

            “Ah, that’s an interesting set of friends there,” the large woman mused.

            “Why do you say that Mrs. Universe?”

            “Oh please just call me Rose,” she waved her hand.  “Well as a school counselor I’ve been working with them, or well keeping track of them since they first started here.  Each one of us gets assigned to a year of students and then move through with them as they progress through high school.  I’ve mostly had to work with Jasper and Amethyst; they attract a little more trouble than Peridot and Lapis.”

            “So that also means that you will be my counselor as well until I graduate from here, is that correct?”

            “Yes, or until you have to leave for any other reason.  So, you’re stuck with me.” She gave Pearl a big wide smile.  “Unless you’re not ok with that then we can work out something so that you are with a counselor that you are comfortable with.” Rose said with a more serious expression.

            “No! Not at all, I’m good with being stuck with you,” Pearl lightly laughed.

            “Oh good!” Rose laughed.  “Now tell me, how are your classes?  Are they going to be challenging enough for you?  Your counselor from your previous school mentioned how easily you handled the courses they had to offer.  Though it’s much harder for smaller schools to provide the depth, intensity, and variety that we have here.”

            “I think they will challenge me, the three AP courses along with honors English and French should provide enough.  I’m just happy I’ll be able to take calculus and AP physics without having to go to a community college.”

            “That’s great to hear!  Now the only other thing I wanted to ask you, was if you were interested in any school extracurricular activities.  We do have a drill team and some dance classes.  They had also mentioned that you were quite the dancer.  Right now it looks like you are signed up for just the regular PE course, you’ll be stuck with a bunch of freshman, but I could pull a few strings and put you into something else if you want…” She looked at Pearl and waited for an answer.

            “What kinds of dance classes do they have?”

            “Well just Dance 1, Dance 2, Dance 3, a Hip Hop class, a partner dancing class, and a couple of others that are already at maximum capacity.  The Dance 1, 2, and 3 cover more classic styles of dancing at different levels, while Hip Hop, well I’m sure you can guess that style.  The partner dancing class covers a wide variety of styles as well. Only the Dance 3 and Hip Hop have time slots where one of your elective courses are.”

            Pearl thought for a moment.  “What about Dance 3?”

            “Ok,” she said as she typed a few things on the computer.  “That will require you to perform an audition with the teacher so she can ensure you are at the same level as everyone else.  Are you ok with that?”

            “Yes, when can I do that?”

            “Let me have a chat with the teacher and I will email you once I know for sure.  If you pass the audition it will take over your 4th block PE class,” Rose finished with a smile.

            “Thank you, Rose.”

            “Any time, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

            “Not at the moment, thank you.”

            “Alright well you have a good weekend!”

            “You too!” Pearl waved as she left Rose’s office.  She walked over to her car in the nearly empty school parking lot.  A quick glance at her watch told her that she had ten minutes to get over to the dance studio for her next lesson with Rainbow Quartz.  The recommendation from her former instructor had turned out very well.  Ms. Quartz was a personable, energetic, dancer with many styles and years of experience under her belt.  Though her friendly attitude did not exempt her from being stern and picky about making sure everything was perfect.  Pearl smiled; Ms. Quartz was just the type of teacher who could push her to the next level of her own skill.  It also helped that she was just as excited to work with Pearl as Pearl had been to work with her.

            At dinner Pearl’s mother mentioned that she had received an email from Mrs. Universe listing a potential time for a dance audition with the teacher for Dance 3.

            “She said she would be able to meet with you after school on Monday for a quick audition.”

            “That’ll work well as long as the meeting doesn’t go too long, I don’t want to be late for my lesson with Ms. Quartz that day.”

            “Well we can always let her know ahead of time that there is a potential of you showing up a little later.  Though, do you really need this dance class?  You have signed up for practice five days of the week with Ms. Quartz.”

            “I don’t need it, but I want it.  The other option for me is to be stuck in a class with a bunch of freshman doing the basic PE unit.”

            “Well don’t feel pressured to just do the same thing you’ve always done, Pearl,” her dad added. “If there is another type of class or skill that you want to learn, take initiative and pick that class instead.”

            Pearl considered the thought for a moment.  “True, well I do have two elective courses, so maybe I can work with Rose on the second one.  See if there is anything I’d like to branch out to.”

            Her father and mother smiled.  “It’s a new place here, full of new experiences and adventures ready to happen.  Take it and make the most of this opportunity Pearl.  And if things get rough, know that your mother and I will be there for you.”

            Pearl returned the smile.  “I will, thank you.”

            “Now remember if anyone asks you on a date, I get to meet them before you go!”

            “What!” Pearl blushed.  “Why are you even bringing that up?!”

            “Now honey,” her mother placed a hand on his arm, “We both get to meet them, not just you.”

            Pearl hid her face behind her hands and groaned.

 

            Pearl walked into her math class a bit early once again.  To her surprise she noticed Garnet there yet again, resting on her desk.  She walked over and took a seat at her desk.

            _How early does she get here?_

            Now that she thought about it, Garnet had yet to show up late to class ever since her first day here when she had given the note to the teacher.  Despite the ridiculousness of the idea, Pearl wanted to find out just how early the tall girl got to school, and why was she not out socializing with her friends.

            _But I just can’t ask her that that would be invasive._

            She came up with a simple plan, simple and completely avoided the situation of Pearl having to ask Garnet questions.

 

            After school Pearl had her tryout with Ms. Sardonyx, the dance teacher for the school.  It went well and Pearl was officially transferred into the class the following day by Rose.  In that same meeting Pearl discussed with Rose her other elective course.  Upon finding out about the small shop class that was offered, Pearl immediately expressed the desire to be placed in that class.  With a smile and a few clicks of the mouse, Rose had set up that adjustment as well.  Pearl lightly danced to her car after that meeting with Rose; she was becoming more and more comfortable with the new school she was at.

            Pearl’s plan to find out when Garnet exactly came to class involved her showing up five minutes earlier to class each day until she arrived before her.  The only downside was that they had each class every other day due to the block scheduling so it potentially could take longer to discretely find out.

            It took five instances of showing up five minutes earlier each time from the starting point of thirty minutes early to finally arrive before Garnet was in the class.  Pearl sat down in the empty classroom and pulled out her calculus book.  The sound of the door opening and closing a minute later interrupted Pearl’s reading.  She looked up to see Garnet standing at the front of the class staring at her.  A small smile and chuckle escaped Garnet’s thick lips.

            “You beat me,” she stated as she walked over to where Pearl was sitting.

            “What, I was, well, I-” Pearl stuttered.  She didn’t think Garnet would have actually noticed or anything.

            Garnet set down her duffle bag and took a seat in Peridot’s chair.

            “It wasn’t a competition or anything I just, well…” Pearl couldn’t think of a way to explain what she was doing without it coming off as a bit stalkerish.  Then again as she thought about it more, it really was a bit stalkerish.

            Garnet looked at her expectantly, a small smirk resting in the corner of her mouth.

            Pearl bit the bullet and came clean.  “I was curious on how early you arrived for class.”  She looked at Garnet, trying to read her expression. “And why you didn’t hang out with your friends before class like most people do.”

            “Amethyst doesn’t arrive for class until the very last minute.  Never late, but never early.  My day starts early.  It’s more convenient to go to school after my morning activities then to go home for a little bit and then go to school.”

            “Oh.”  Pearl looked up at Garnet, just now noticing that her curls were slightly damp and that she smelled like she had just showered not too long ago.  “Thank you for explaining that to me.  What about your other friends though?  Why not talk with them?”

            “I could ask the same of you.”

            “What?”

            “You arrive early to class, but never really stay out and visit with your friends when they haven’t decided to come in yet.”

            “I-well…I enjoy coming in and looking over the topic for the day or reviewing my notes for the classes I have today,” Pearl admitted with a slight blush.

            Garnet chuckled again.  “That’s nothing to be ashamed of Pearl, it’s smart.”

            “Oh…thank you.”

            Garnet smiled and nodded in response.  Pearl looked back down at her notes while Garnet continued to sit in the chair, taking on a more relaxed pose.  The smaller of the two silently wondered why the other was still sitting there and had yet to move.

            _Did she still want to talk?  Should I say something?  Why hasn’t she moved or said anything?_

            More students slowly made their way to the classroom.  It wasn't too long before Peridot came in and noticed Garnet sitting in her chair.

            “What are you doing?  That’s my chair!” she stormed over. “Get out; you’re going to make it all warm and gross.”

            Garnet looked at her, their eyes level from her sitting position.  She slowly stood up and picked up her bags.

            “Sorry.” she said as she walked away.

            “Ugh, you clod,” Peridot muttered as she fanned the seat with her hands.  She made an attempt to sit down, but stood back up making comments on how warm it was.  Eventually she just sat down on her desk instead to give her chair time to cool off.

            Lapis walked in, hair wet, and smelling like a mix of chlorine and shampoo.  She took one look at Peridot before glancing at Pearl.

            “Why are you sitting on your desk Peri?”

            “Because that clod over there made my chair all warm!” she grumbled as she gestured to where Garnet was sitting.

            “Garnet was sitting in your chair?  Why?”

            “I don’t know, ask Pearl.”  Peridot turned to look at Pearl.  “Why was she sitting in my chair?”

            “Well, we were having a conversation,” Pearl admitted.

            “You two weren’t talking when I came in.”

            “No, the conversation had ended before then.”

            “So then why was she still sitting in my chair?”

            Lapis continued to just watch the exchange from her own seat.

            “I don’t know, I guess she didn’t feel like moving just yet.  It’s not like I was going to tell her to move,” Pearl tried.

            “Well next time tell her to sit somewhere else,” Peridot finalized as she sat down in her chair.

            Lapis turned her attention to Pearl.  “Sooo, Garnet was talking to you huh?  What about?”

            “Uhhhh…” Pearl wasn’t able to stop the blush from forming.

 

            Loud laughing burst from Jasper and Amethyst as Lapis finished retelling the experiment Pearl ran to find out when Garnet arrived to school.

            “No way, you seriously did that?!” Amethyst exclaimed.

            Pearl was doing the best she could to not get too flustered.  “Look, ok, in hindsight yes I’ll admit it was a little weird, but it seemed like a better idea than just talking to her ok?”

            Jasper thumped her fist on the table a few times as she continued to laugh.  “Geez you are really curious about her, aren’t you.”

            “I-, I guess so,” Pearl paused, “I did find out that she was the one who stopped me from going into that one district.”

            “Which district?” Amethyst asked, puzzled.

            “The Bright Embers,” Lapis provided.

            “Wait seriously?  And G didn’t even tell me about it?  Man I’ma going to give her a hard time about that.  But why didn’t you just ask her?” Amethyst directed towards Pearl.

            “Well, my first conversation with her didn’t exactly go that well…” Pearl trailed off.

            “What do you mean by that?”

            “She didn’t say much.”

            “Garnet never says much, when she is talkative, it’s a little weird.  You just learn to understand her silence,” Amethyst waved off Pearl’s concern.

            “So that conversation I had with her on if she was the person who stopped me was probably an average conversation with her?”

            Amethyst nodded.  She then swiped Jaspers last cookie and ate it in one bite.

            “Hey!” Jasper shouted.

            “Too slow!”

            Pearl put her hands on either side of her face, still hot with embarrassment.

            “Hey, what’s wrong Pearl,” Lapis asked.

            “I feel like you guys are never going to let me live this down.”

            They all exchanged glances.

            “Probably not,” Peridot stated.

            “But that’s ok, there’s things all of us have that we tease each other about, like what happened when Jasper tried to do a slam dunk for the first time,” Amethyst shrugged.

            “What?! No, you are not telling her that!”

            “Haha, nope!”

            “What happened?” Pearl asked eagerly.

            “Well, she jumped up and the ball hit the rim and bounced off.  Instead of just landing normally she grabbed onto the rim.  Her fingers slipped due to her continued forward momentum and ended up doing a back flop onto the ground.  Knocked her out cold!”

            Pearl laughed, the image of the buff character laying on the ground for such a silly reason was quite entertaining.

            “Hey, that was a long time ago!” Jasper countered.

            “Yeah like last year right after you heard Garnet had almost done a slam dunk,” Amethyst rolled her eyes.

            “It sounds like you’re always trying to one up Garnet, are you two like rivals?” Pearl asked.  “That would make it hard though to be on the same team though, wouldn’t it?”

            “We aren’t rivals, we do compete with each other a lot, but we’re not exactly friends either.  She’s a good teammate, that’s what I think of her.  I’d rather play with her than against her.”

            “I understand.”

            Lunch ended before too long leaving the group to disperse and finish out their school day.  A few agreements were tossed around for meeting up to play ball or study as they left.

 

            The next time Pearl entered her math class at an early time, but not as early as Garnet, she took her normal seat.  She heard the other shuffle and move.  Pearl stole a quick glance back at the large mass of hair as it was slowly lowered back down towards the desk.  Pearl pursed her lips as she took out her book and began reading the next chapter.

            Two days later Pearl entered the classroom around the same time, once again finding the only occupants to be Garnet and herself.  She at first went towards her desk, but then stopped.  After steeling her nerves she walked over and took a seat across from the resting figure.  Garnet looked up as she sat down.

            “Hi,” Pearl smiled.

            “Hey,” Garnet smirked.

            A long pause of silence ran between them.

            “I heard you’re on the basketball team, what position do you play?” Pearl asked.

            “Post.”

            “What does a post do?  I’m not exactly familiar with the positions or rules of the game…” she trailed off.

            “Posts stand by the hoop, block shots, catch rebounds, and take short shots.”

            “Ah!  So it’s helpful if you’re tall then?”

            Garnet nodded.  Pearl played with her hands as she tried to think of something to say next.

            “What style of dance do you like?” Garnet’s question took her off guard.

            “What?”

            “You dance right?  I mean, I saw you in the dance studio.” Garnet suddenly closed her mouth.

            “Oh dance?  Yes I do,” Pearl nervously laughed.  “Ballet is my strong point, but I’ve been trying to learn other styles as well.  Wait, what do you mean by saw?”

            Garnet was silent for a moment.

_Is she embarrassed?  I really can’t read her expressions that well…_

            “The dance studio is right next to the weight room, I thought I saw you in there,” Garnet explained, “a couple times,” she added faintly.

            “Well, yes, I have it during my fourth block class.”

            “Ah, that’s when I have weights with Amethyst and Jasper.  So it was you.”

            “I guess so.”

            They both weakly laughed off the awkwardness of the conversation.

           

            It slowly became a ritual for the two, whoever came in second to class would join the other and they would talk about all sorts of general topics.  This at times resulted in Peridot getting upset about her chair being warm.  Eventually Garnet would just sit in Lapis’s chair whenever she came in later than Pearl.  Garnet would listen a lot, especially when Pearl got really excited about something.  She would sit there taking in all of Pearl’s gestures and expressions as she talked about the latest thing she learned in her shop class or in dance.  Despite how quiet Garnet could be, there were few times when they had a steady conversation going back and forth.  This ritual became something that the dancer looked forward to every day she had math.  It was always a disappointment when other students started filling in, thus ending their conversations.


	3. Dance the Night Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get this chapter a little earlier because I was able to get some good writing done!

^^^^^^

Copper Cove’s Homecoming dance provides an opportunity for friends to unite and dance to their heart's content.

^^^^^^

 

            The lunch area was more talkative than usual.  Pearl looked around at everyone chatting back forth, exclaiming plans, and teens asking a person of interest or infatuation to the dance.  Even her group of friends seemed to be already engrossed in conversation by the time she joined them.

            “Well none of us are really dating anyone, and it would be weird to ask one of you guys out, no offense,” Jasper spoke to the group.

            “None taken,” Peridot said, as she typed away on her computer.

            “My group is in the same sort of deal.  Well except for Jenny, she says she has some one she might ask to the dance,” Amethyst contributed from where she was sitting on the table.

            Pearl sat down in her spot and began to pull out her food.

            “What about this!” Amethyst snapped her fingers. “We all go as a huge group!  No dates, no drama, just a bunch of us teenage fools having fun dancing together!”

            “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Lapis mused.  “Are you thinking of having your group join ours?”

            “Why not?  Twice the people, twice the fun, right?”

            “Well we do know them to a certain extent, what do you all think?”

            Peridot shrugged.  “Why not?”

            “Ah hell with it, sure,” Jasper leaned back in her seat.

            “Pearl?”

            “Oh, I wasn’t sure if I was going to go or not…”

            “What?! It’s homecoming Pearl, you gotta come, it’s like one of the three good school dances of the whole year,” Amethyst exclaimed. “And one of those is senior ball, so that doesn’t count because we can’t go.”

            “I guess so,” Pearl conceded.

            “So what’s your thought about going as a group with Amethysts friends as well?”

            “I would be ok with that.  Who all is in your group Amethyst?”

            “Jenny, Buck, Sour Cream, and G-man.  Since you all seem on board lets go get together and plan this shindig out!” Amethyst turned and let out in a booming voice, “Garnet!  Jenny!  Get everyone over here!”

            Garnet looked at Amethyst, and then exchanged a wordless shrug with Jenny before standing up and walking over.  Jenny grabbed Sour Cream’s head phones and relayed the announcement.  In a minute all of them had gathered around Pearl and her friends.  It didn’t take long for them to come to an agreement on the idea to go as a large group.  After some initial planning, such as the time to meet up and carpool over, Amethyst’s group began to disperse.  Garnet turned to Pearl holding her phone in her hand.

            “What is your number?” she asked Pearl.

            “W-what for?” Pearl was genuinely surprised by this question.

            “A lot of planning happens in group messages, this way I can make sure you’re in on the conversation.”

            “We would keep Pearl in the loop,” Jasper said defensively.  “You really don’t need to give her your number,” she directed to Pearl.

            Garnet didn’t say anything, she just continued to stand there waiting patiently for Pearl to say her number.

            “It wouldn’t hurt to have another point of contact,” Pearl justified to Jasper.   Jasper just shrugged.  Pearl listed off her number.  Garnet said a small thanks before turning and walking away.

            “Seriously though, she didn’t need your number,” Jasper grumbled.

            “Why do you care if Garnet has her number or not?” Lapis questioned.

            “She made it sound like we wouldn’t tell Pearl anything!  What kind of friends does she think we are?”

            Pearl turned her attention away from her friend’s conversation as her phone gave off a small chirp.  She looked down to see a new message from a new number.

            [It’s me.  B)] it read.

            A small smile found it’s way onto Pearl’s face as she saved the number under a new contact named Garnet.

            [Thanks] she sent back.

            Amethyst just sat there watching the whole thing with a smirk on her face.

 

            The three weeks until the dance went by quickly.  Classes were picking up, midterms and projects were well underway.  Jasper, Amethyst, and Garnet had started their basketball conditioning.  Lapis’s water polo season was in full swing and Pearl just got assigned a dance routine to perform for Ms. Quartz’s dance studio in December.  October cooled down quickly.  More often than not Pearl had to bundle herself in a series of jackets and scarves to stay warm.

            Pearl was nervous for the dance; she never really had gone to any school dances before.  Her friends at her last school weren’t into that sort of social activity.  It also meant having to decide on an outfit and worrying about what type of dancing she could do there besides the typical hip grinder.

            The group’s plans for the dance came together without too many arguments.  True to her word, Garnet made sure to include her in any of the conversation threads, and so did Jasper.  This often times led to Pearl’s phone chirping like crazy while she was trying to study, which then led to the device being suffocated by her pillow just so she could concentrate.  It didn’t help when Amethyst decided to throw in random jokes and pictures to the group chat, which would then be played off by a number of other individuals in the group.  Eventually Peridot would send an angry text telling everyone to “Shut up, you CLODS!!”  Needless to say Pearl was excited for this event to be over for more than one reason.

            Her parents on the other hand were excited about their daughter finally going to one of the school dances.  Pearl did enjoy the time she got to spend picking out a dress with her mother.  Her father went over a few rules and words of advice to avoid any individual’s who got too pushy or close to her.

            “Just remember, if anyone hurts my little girl, they will answer to me!” her dad emphasized as he flexed his thin arms.

            “Dad!” Pearl exclaimed as her face heated up.

            “Now, now honey,” her mother gently tapped him on the shoulder as she entered the hallway.  “You look beautiful Pearl!”

            Pearl grinned.  She wore an ankle length pale blue dress that shimmered with the light.  It was a halter top that hugged torso and hips, then flowed freely afterwards; form fitting, yet allowed the desired amount of mobility in her legs.  Her hair was more or less done up in her usual pixie style, but with a few jewels that matched her dress inserted into it.  A light dusting of natural coloring make-up was brushed onto her face to complete the outfit.

            “We will need to hurry up if we are to get to Lapis’s place on time for the pictures,” her mother reminded.  “You sure you’re ok with us coming to drop you off?  You’re not going to get embarrassed are you?”

            “No, I won’t, that was part of the arrangement, we decided as a group to let our parents come and take pictures if they want.  After that we were going to get something light to eat and then head over to the dance about a half an hour after it starts.”

            “Well let’s get going then,” her father said as he motioned for the door.  “I’m going to make sure that any boy or girl knows not to get their hands on my daughter!”

            “Dad...” Pearl groaned.  “Please don’t…”

 

            They arrived at the front of Lapis’s house in just a short drive later.  After parking the car and making any final adjustments to Pearl’s outfit, they headed for the door.  Lapis’s mother opened the door and welcomed the three of them in.  In the sizable backyard the group members and their parents that had already arrived milled about making small chit chat.  Jasper stood tall in black slacks, a maroon pinstripe dress shirt, a black tie, and matte black dress shoes.  Lapis wore a dark blue halter top that came to her shins and matching 2” heels.  Amethyst was running around in a strapless purple dress that hugged her form very well.  Peridot stood next to Jasper in white slacks, green dress shirt, and a small black bow tie.  She looked like she would rather be in her usual sweatshirt and jeans.  Jenny was in a black and white, diagonally striped, asymmetrical, dress that had a sleeve on one side but just a shoulder strap on the other.  Sour Cream and Buck were dressed up similar to Jasper and Peridot.  Sour Cream sported a light blue dress shirt, white slacks, and a white tie while Buck wore a red dress shirt, black slacks, and a black tie.  Pearl did one more glance over the group and the various parents already taking some pictures.  Garnet was the only one missing.

            “Pearl, let’s get an individual picture of you before everyone is getting ready for the group pictures,” her mom spoke to her.  Her dad was off talking to what looked like Jasper’s and Buck’s fathers.

            “Oh, alright.”  Pearl turned and posed for the camera.  After a couple of pictures her mom encouraged her to go mingle with her friends.

            “What’s up P?  Nice dress.” Amethyst slid next to her.

            “Oh! Thank you Amethyst, yours looks really good on you too,” she smiled.

            “Aw thanks, though I gotta really thank these two ladies, they’re the ones doing all the work,” she said as she motioned to her generous chest.

            A light blush formed on Pearl’s cheeks as she then tried to think of some sort of response to that statement; her mouth opening and closing a couple of times.

            Amethyst laughed, “Aww P, I’ve been waiting to say that, just to see your reaction.”  The shorter girl gave her a playful punch on the arm.

            “Ah, well, I hope it was as funny as you thought it would be.”

            “Darn tootin it was!”

            Pearl allowed a small smile to form at her friend’s antics.  Though they didn’t usually agree on types of jokes and humor, occasionally there would be times that she did find what the shorter girl would say to be funny.  As she took another glance around the group of people, a tall figure walked through the back door.

            “G is finally here!” Amethyst ran over to greet her.

            Light blue eyes drank in the sight.  Garnet wore a pair of black slacks that hugged her wide hips and powerful legs; then flowed out loosely as it passed her calves.  A simple white dress shirt with black suspenders and a black tie adorned her torso, with black strap 3” heels to finish off the look.  Her sunglasses and hairdo were the same as they usually are.  Amethyst was bouncing up and down next her making comments on how awesome she looked.  Pearl couldn’t hear her response, but judging by Amethysts reaction it was something nice towards her attire.  The red head looked behind Garnet hoping to get a glance at what her parents looked like, however, there was no one accompanying her.

_Where are her parents?  Wouldn’t they want to come to this?_

            “Hello, Pearl,” Garnet’s accented voice brought Pearls focus back as the tall dark-skinned teenager walked up to her.

            “Hi, Garnet, you look very nice today,” Pearl greeted.

            “Thank you, I like your dress, it brings out your eyes.”

            “Oh! Th-thank you,” she stuttered, trying to fight the blush creeping onto her cheeks.  “Your pants fit you very well.”

            Garnet was silent for a moment.  Pearl could have sworn she saw her blush.  “Thanks, they’re my favorite,” she said quietly.

            “Hey everyone!” Lapis shouted to get everyone’s attention.  “We are going to line up and get a few group photos, then you guys can do any pairs or smaller group pics if you want.”

            Lapis’s mother then worked to have everyone line up so that the taller individuals were in the middle and the shorter on the sides.  Jasper made a comment to Garnet about using heels as a cheap tactic to make herself taller.  After a number of pictures all together, the two groups had their separate pictures.  Amethyst and Garnet took a few pair shots.

            “I’ll make sure to send a couple to Jaune for you Garnet,” Amethyst said as she looked over the pictures on the camera.

            “Thanks, I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”

            It wasn’t long before everyone had taken all the pictures they wanted to and the teenagers got together in various cars to drive to the dance.  The evening sky was already turning dark as they arrived and a chill was settling in.  They stood in line to enter the gym, turned into a dance floor, keeping close for warmth.  Once inside Pearl checked in her coat and bag at the item check and had the respective number written on her hand with marker.  The base from the music vibrated through the wood floor as colorful lights danced all over the walls.  Their group waded through the throng of dancing teenagers to an area near the middle.  Everyone began moving in their own styles of dancing.  Pearl felt a little claustrophobic with all the people so close to her, but was able to adjust as the songs went on.  Occasionally she would leave to get a breath of fresh air and a drink or snack at the food bar.

            One time she came back to see that Garnet and Amethyst were dancing together on the edge of the main group of people.  She couldn’t tell what style it was, there were occasional movements of Garnet leading Amethyst, but for the most part it was just them dancing closely.  As the song ended Garnet spun Amethyst around and dipped her low.  Amethyst bust up laughing as she was pulled back up, punching Garnet playfully on the shoulder.  Garnet wore a grin as well.  Pearl scolded herself for staring as she turned to return to their main group.

            A couple of hours into the night Pearl found herself resting on one of the chairs along the walls of the gym.  As the new song faded in Pearl got up and began doing some solo dancing in the open area.  She closed her eyes and let her body flow with the music.  Her arm stretched out as she moved into another ballet pose; when a warm hand grasped hers, she visibly jumped and tried to pull away from the firm grip.  Pearl opened her eyes to see Garnet holding her hand with a small smile on her lips.

            “Dance with me,” Garnet spoke over the booming music.

            Pearl couldn’t tell if it was a question or a statement, either way she nodded and twirled as Garnet pulled her closer.  Her other hand clasped Garnet's open palm as her back was against Garnet’s front; the taller girl's hot breath tickling the back of her neck.  They swayed for a few seconds before Garnet twirled her out and then guided her back in.  Push and pull, twist and twirl.  Pearl would throw in a few ballet accents to their dance as Garnet continued to lead her.  There were a few moments that one went one way or another causing some unintentional foot stepping or bumping, however, they were able to find each other’s rhythm.  Pearl wasn’t aware if they were still dancing to the same song or not.  Garnet pulled her close, one hand in hers, while the other was pressed firmly against her upper back.  The dark-skinned woman then led them in a basic waltz.  The pale teenager raised an eyebrow at the shift in type of dance.  The curly haired teenager simply smirked and kept on leading them across the dance floor.  Pearl relaxed; this was unexpected, but also nice that her current dance partner had some experience.  Suddenly Garnet’s hands shifted and Pearl let out a surprised squeak as she was lifted a few feet off the ground.  She grasped the hands pressed against the base of her rib cage, scared of them slipping or releasing her.  The ballet dancer was brought back down quickly.

            “Sorry,” Garnet said as they returned to their waltz.

            “It’s ok, I was just surprised,” Pearl responded as she was pushed out for a spin.

            “Would you like to try it again?”

            Pearl nodded after a couple of moments to think.

            “Ready?” Garnet checked.

            “Yes,” she confirmed.

            Garnet’s hand shifted once again to her sides as she squatted down.  With one fluid motion, she lifted Pearl off the ground and high into the air, fully extending her long arms.  Pearl closed her eyes and extended her arms and legs, she felt like she was flying.  Light blue eyes opened and looked down to see a wide grin on the taller girls face.  As she was slowly set back down an excited smile was plastered on her face.  Her hands rested on Garnet’s shoulders for a brief moment before she was being led once again in a waltz.  After a few turns, Pearl hooked her arm around Garnets neck as they spun around each other, Garnet held onto her underneath her arm pit as she used momentum and the leverage she had to pull Pearl off the ground.  The red head tucked her legs up and allowed herself to be swung around and around Garnet; her legs hovering only a few inches from the ground.  After a few more rotations Pearl regained her legs and they both smoothly stopped spinning.  Garnet held her close as both of them recovered their breath from the intense dancing.  She looked up at the still grinning Garnet, a warmth blossoming through her chest.

            “That was,” Pearl paused as the next song started playing, “incredible!”

            “You were incredible!” Garnet replied.  “Thank you for dancing with me.”

            “You’re welcome,” Pearl said, not even trying to hide her flushed cheeks.

            Garnet looked away for a moment.  “I’m really thirsty, would you like me to grab you anything from the food bar?”

            “A glass of water would be great, thank you.”

            Garnet nodded and walked away.  Pearl watched her walk away for a moment before scanning the crowd.  Peridot was doing some sort of robotic dance, Sour Cream was next to her rapidly moving his arms to the music, a glow stick in each hand.  Jasper and Lapis were talking in the corner, or just ignoring each other, she couldn’t really tell.  Amethyst and Jenny were rocking out to the music, Amethyst expertly rolling her body and hips to the music.  An opaque plastic cup entered the line of her vision.  Pearl’s eyes traveled from the cup to large dark hands, up bare forearms, past the wrinkled white dress shirt with one button undone, finally landing on Garnet’s familiar face.  In the dim yet colorful lighting Pearl could see a bead of sweat run down the side of Garnet neck down into the parting of her shirt where the loosened tie hung.  Her mouth felt very dry.

            “Th-Thank you,” she said as she took the offered glass.

            Garnet nodded and took a drink from the cup stored between the crook of her elbow and her side.  Pearl tried to not stare too much at her friend, opting to nurse her cup of water to distract her.  The slight change in Garnet’s attire shouldn’t be that much of a big deal.  In Pearl’s peripheral vision Garnet readjusted her suspenders and loosened up her tie even more.  The drink was gone in no longer than a half of a minute, much to Pearl’s disappointment.

            “Here,” Garnet’s voice spoke as another cup was extended to her.

            Pearl looked at her confused.

            “This is my second,” she motioned to the cup she had been drinking out of.  “I figured you might need more as well.”

            It was then that the ballerina realized that Garnet had walked over with three cups; one in each hand and one against her side.  Two had been for her.

            “Oh, thank you,” a small blush forming on her cheeks as she took the drink.  She was able to drink this one a little slower.  Garnet stood silently next to her, occasionally sipping on her water as well.  The taller teenager took all three now empty cups and stacked them together.  After setting them on a chair, she walked over and extended her hand to her.

            “Would you like to dance with me?”

            “Yes,” Pearl heard herself saying before she even realized it.

            They took up their waltz position from before.  As they moved through the basic movements Garnet spoke up.

            “Show me some of your dance moves.”

            “What?”

            “Did you ever do any partner dancing?”

            “Yes, though it’s a little different in ballet, there’s lifts and such.”

            “Teach me,” Garnet smiled.

            “You mean for me to lead?”

            Garnet nodded.

            “Ok…”

            Pearl wasn’t entirely sure how to teach her in this type of a setting.  So she took Garnet’s hands and moved them to have her arms mimic her own movements.  Garnet began to also follow any movements she made with her legs.  It was a little awkward at first, there was a second of delay between her movements and Garnet’s.  However, their dancing evolved off of that.  Pearl would strike a pose or do a small routine, and then Garnet would mimic it to the best of her abilities.  Then Garnet would perform a movement of her own and silently challenge Pearl to it.  With each round of the competition the complexity and length of the dances would increase.  The red head spun around on the tip of her toe, launched herself into the air, performed a perfect split, then landed in a graceful turn.  The taller woman kicked off her heels and imitated the other as best as possible.  Her final landing was heavy and didn’t have much of a spin.  Garnet then flowed into a complex series of arm patterns thrown to the music.  She rolled her body and dropped low to the ground.  As the music came back up, so did she.  Pearl swung her arms around for a few seconds before glancing up at the other and chuckling hopelessly.  Garnet folded her arms and laughed.

            “I think I missed a few of those,” Pearl waved her arms again, “moves of yours.”

            “Heh, I wouldn’t be able to repeat it either, I just go with the flow of the music and let my hands do the talking,” Garnet admitted.

            “Hey what are you two doing over here?” Amethyst shouted as she jumped over to them.  “I saw some sort of dance off or something going on.”

            “We were just dancing,” Garnet responded.

            “For quite some time, you two have been off in your own world for like the past half of an hour or so,” Jasper added as she and the rest of the combined group gathered around.

            “Has it really been that long?”  Pearl wondered to Garnet.  The taller woman just shrugged.

            “Yeah, give or take fifteen minutes,” Jasper added.

            “That’s not a very accurate estimation,” Peridot grumbled.

            “How is everyone doing?  Do we want to stay longer or head out for the night?” Lapis posed as she joined the group.

            The general consensus from the group was another half an hour at the dance and then head out for the night.  Garnet disappeared to the snack bar to get some more water.  Everyone danced and talked together in a loose circle.  A half an hour passed quickly and Pearl found herself waiting for one of the chaperones to collect her coat and purse.  She stepped outside into the cold air her body shivered as the sweat on her skin rapidly cooled.  Large puffs came from her mouth as the warm air from her lungs condensed into wisps.  Amethyst, Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream were all going to a local 24hr Diner for a late dinner.  Jasper, Lapis, and Peridot were heading back to Lapis’s house to watch a scary movie.  Pearl declined both offers from both groups due to not being hungry and not fond of scary movies.

            “What about you Garnet?  Want to come get a bite to eat with us?” Jenny shouted to the tall stoic figure standing right next to Pearl.

            “No thanks, I’ll pass,” she replied.

            “Aw c’mon, it’s not going to ruin your figure, you’ll work it off the next time we have conditioning,” Amethyst tried.

            Garnet just shook her head; then turned to Pearl.  “Do you have a ride home?”

            Amethyst shouted her farewell to the remaining five students.  They waved in response.

            “She’s with us, we can just drop her off on our way to Lapis’s place,” Jasper said as she walked up to the two.

            “Where do you live?”  Garnet asked Pearl.

            “Just over on Granite Creek Boulevard.”

            “That’s not far from where I live, closer than Lapis is actually.  I can drive you home if you’d like.”

            “We don’t mind dropping Pearl off, really,” Lapis said.

            Garnet shrugged, “Either way it’s your choice, I won’t be offended if you go with your friends.”

            Pearl looked between the two a couple of times.  “Well in the interest of efficiency, it would make sense for me to ride with Garnet this time, since it appears that she’s closer to me.”

            Jasper shrugged and bade the both of them goodnight.  Lapis shot a knowing smirk at Pearl and Peridot just simply followed the two towards Jasper’s car.  Garnet began walking off into the parking lot without much of another word.  Pearl quickly followed her to her car.  The taller woman opened up the passenger door for Pearl, a small smile on her face.  Pearl blushed and let out a quick “thank you” as she sat down.  Garnet hopped into the driver’s seat and drove off.  The thin teenager shivered on the cold synthetic leather seats; Garnet made no comment, but turned on the heat after the engine had some time to heat up.  The lighter of the two kept on trying to think of things to talk about or ask, but the other seemed content with the silence.  The only words exchanged were Pearl giving directions to her house.  Once they had arrived Garnet stepped out to walk up to the front door with her.

            “How are you able to stand this cold without a jacket?” Pearl finally asked.

            “Hmm, good circulation?” Garnet shrugged.

            They stopped at the door, both turning to face the other.

            “Thanks for the ride,” Pearl smiled.

            “My pleasure,” The athletic woman smirked.  “You were a great dance partner.”

            “Thanks, I love dancing,” Pearl said quietly as she blushed.

            They stood there for a moment, the cold air enveloping them.  Garnet’s hands were shoved into the pockets of her slacks, tie hanging loose life a scarf, and sleeves still rolled up to her elbows.  Pearl’s large pea coat covered all of her except for the lower half of her legs.

_What do I say now?  Why did Garnet offer me a ride?  Does she want to kiss me?  I don’t even know if she is into women…_

            Pearl’s mind began running faster and faster with questions as the two stood there.  Garnet turned and began to walk back to her car.  “See you at school, Pearl.”

            “Oh!  Yes, see you on Monday!” she called out.  Pearl took out her keys and unlocked the door before stepping inside; behind her she could hear Garnet’s black car drive off.  The dancer quietly walked through the hallway towards her room.

            “Pearl!” Mr. and Ms. Tancerz jumped out at their daughter.  “How was the dance?”

            Pearl quickly recovered from the surprise.  “I had a lot of fun, it was a little uncomfortable at first with all the people around, but when I got to dance on the outside with some people, that was really enjoyable.”

            “Well we’re glad you have a good time, no one tried to give you any trouble?”

            “No, Dad, no trouble, just fun and sometimes crowded dancing.”

            “That’s good, now I bet you’re tired we’ll let you get to bed.  We can talk more about the dance later if you like,” her mother added.

            “Thank you, we’ll talk tomorrow morning?”

            “Sounds great, see you tomorrow morning, Pearl,” Mr. Tancerz smiled as he put his arm around his wife.


	4. One for the Game, Two for the Show

^^^^^^

Games and performances.  Friends will take turns supporting one another.

^^^^^^

 

            Classes continued to escalate after homecoming.  Before Pearl knew it she was buried once again with papers, projects, and studying for the upcoming semester finals.  It was helpful to be friends with her math group members.  Lapis, Peridot, Pearl, and sometimes Garnet, would get together to study and work on homework.  The latter would usually only join them for test study sessions.  Pearl practiced her dance routine tirelessly with Rainbow Quartz.  It was only a few weeks until the dance recital for the studio.  Water polo ended just as basketball season started.  On game days for her basketball playing friends, they would show up to school wearing the same outfits, usually some part of their warm ups, team t-shirt, and/or jeans.  Due to insistent pestering from Amethyst and Jasper, Pearl conceded to come watch a game.  She prefaced that she still didn’t know the game well and wouldn’t be able to understand everything that was going on.

            “Just listen to the crowds, or Lapis, they will know what is going on,” Jasper offered to Pearl as they talked at lunch.

            “Or you can just ask Lapis, there isn’t much of a crowd to listen too, mostly just parents and friends of players who get suckered into watching the game,” Peridot mumbled.

            “Hey!  People come to our games.  Our team is really good, we’re undefeated right now.”

            Peridot raised an eyebrow.  “Well excuse me for considering ten students to be crowd.”

            “There will be people there,” Jasper restated.

            “It’s preseason and it’s women’s basketball, you’ll be lucky if it’s just the three of us.”

            Jasper folded her arms and huffed.

            “Well all those people don’t know what a show they will be missing.  Garnet says she’s gonna make a slam dunk in the game,” Amethyst jumped in.

            “I’ll get one first,” Jasper countered.

            Amethyst shrugged.  “Sorry pal, but my bets on G getting it first.”  The long haired blonde turned to Pearl.  “You’re coming right?”

            “I guess I am now,” Pearl chuckled.  “Sounds like it will be an interesting game to watch.”

            They chatted until the bell rung sending them all back to their classes for the rest of the day.  Later that evening, Pearl drove back to the nearly deserted school; hair slightly damp from a shower and her side bag full of homework in case she got bored during the game.  Long limber legs wobbled slightly as she walked up the bleachers to where Lapis and Peridot were sitting.  Dance lessons with Rainbow Quartz had run a little longer than usual and her legs were feeling it.  Light blue eyes scanned the nearly empty bleachers, a few students were scattered around, most actually being the JV and freshman basketball teams for both schools.  A number of parents and faithful fans sat in favored seats.  It wasn’t a crowd, but it wasn’t empty either.  She sat down to join her friends.  They talked sporadically until music began blaring through the overhead speakers and the two teams ran out onto the floor.  Both sides of the players wore their full warm-ups and did several drills to prepare themselves for the game.  As the buzzer rang out signaling the end of the warm-up period, the players stripped down to their uniforms.  Their team wore white jerseys with the red and gold colored accents.

            “Ladies and Gentlemen!  Welcome to tonight’s women’s varsity basketball game between Copper Cove High School and Willow Charter School.  We will first announce the starting lineup for the visiting team, Willow Charter School!”

            The audience clapped and cheered for the five girls selected to start off the game.

            “Now for the lineup of your home court ladies!  Starting at point guard, number 12 Amethyst Cardoso!”

            The shorter girl sprinted through the tunnel of teammates giving high fives on both sides.

            “Starting at guard, number 15 Elizabeth Brown!”

            She ran out as well.

            “Starting at guard, number 18 Rhonda Bergman!”

            Once Rhonda reached the end Elizabeth and she jumped up together and bumped hips.

            “Starting at post, number 56 Jasper Ganeva!”

            Jasper and Amethyst did a jumping high five once the bulky woman had reached the end of the tunnel.  Pearl got the impression that Jasper enjoyed the fact that the jerseys didn’t have sleeves, it allowed her to show off her impressive guns easily.

            “And finally starting at post and team captain, number 45 Garnet Erutav!”

            Garnet sprinted through the tunnel and jumped up to bump Amethyst in the chest.  Her wild afro was out in all it’s glory along with her finely toned arms.  Pearl decided that maybe she liked that the jerseys were sleeveless as well.  The dancer frowned ever so slightly when she noticed that Garnet was wearing a pair of dark goggles.

            _Why does she need those?_

In a matter of minutes Garnet and one of the opposing posts faced off on the jump.  Victory on the toss up came easily to her, her long arms and impressive vertical enabled her to touch the ball eight inches higher than the other.  With a blur of movement Amethyst caught the ball and sent it flying down to court to Rhonda who was almost at the basket.  One quick move later and their team already had two points.  It was surprisingly entertaining to watch for Pearl.  She could now understand all of the hard work her friends talked about in the drills they would do, and the lines they would run.  When substitutions were made the team on the floor would quickly adapt to the different skill sets.  She found herself cheering loudly whenever Amethyst would sink a 3-pointer, or Jasper would capture a tough rebound and put it back up, or whenever Garnet would block yet another shot.

            As the game progressed into the third quarter Garnet was matched up against another post who enjoyed playing at the top of the key.  Time and time again the other post would try to out maneuver her with the ball and score, but Garnet was fast, she always seemed to know where her opponent was going to go and was there just in time to stop her.  When their roles were reversed, Garnet was like a wisp of smoke, impossible to catch or predict.  Pearl’s bag of homework lay forgotten at her feet as she cheered along with Lapis, and sometimes Peridot.

            “Yeah, she can’t take nothing from you!” Lapis cheered at Jasper as the strong woman wrestled the ball away from one of the opposing players.  Pearl made a mental note to never try and pull anything away from Jasper.

            Amethyst hands were a blur as she maneuvered the ball all over and around herself as the other point guard tried to pin her down.  The ball bounced between Amethysts legs before she made a movement to drive towards the basket, but at the last instant she pulled back and easily sunk an odd angled 2-pointer.

            By the fourth quarter it could hardly be called a game, it was a slaughter.  The score was 72-31.  A switch in players ended up with Garnet guarding the point guard at the top while Amethyst was stuck with a tall post.  The opposing point guard made an attempt to drive to the side, but Garnet’s large hands struck out swiftly and knocked the ball back towards their basket.  Long powerful legs charged down the court as hands kept the orange sphere in pace with them.  All opponents were hopelessly far behind, it was a straight path to the basket.  Two strides later feet pushed against the floor and Garnet sailed through the air.  One hand palming the ball, back arched, head held high, one leg bent while the other was straight.  A wide triumphant smirk was spread over the captain’s face as the ball was slammed through the rim.

            “Slam Dunk!” the announcer shouted over the roar of the attendees.

            Pearl and several others jumped to their feet and cheered loudly.  Garnet landed somewhat gracefully on the floor.  She did a quick fist pump before sprinting back to the player she was assigned to guard.

            “A first of its kind for the school’s women’s basketball program, and leave it to Garnet to be the one to do it!”

            Amethyst gave Garnet’s a low high five as they passed each other on the court.  The taller of the two had yet to stop grinning.  A few short minutes later the game ended with the final score being 86-33.  Their team was applauded for their victory.  Both sides exchanged high-fives before heading out of the gym.  Lapis, Peridot, and Pearl waited around for their friends to come out after the post game team meeting.  Jasper was pulled aside by her dad as he congratulated her on her performance.  Amethyst and Garnet walked up to the three of them.  They were still in their uniforms; Amethyst was wearing her warm-up jacket and pants.  The goggles were gone from Garnet’s face and back were her usual sunglasses.  Matching duffle bags adorned their shoulders.

            “How was that for entertaining?!” the shorter of the two shouted out.

            “Very, I didn’t pull out my homework once,” Pearl admitted.

            “Whoa…” Garnet and Amethyst said in unison.  They exchanged a quick glance.

            “Who are you and what did you do with Pearl?” the platinum blonde demanded.

            “Well, I never would have guessed that,” Garnet shrugged.

            “She did do her homework during half-time,” Peridot monotonously said.

            “That doesn’t count.  You guys weren’t playing then,” Pearl countered.

            “Either way I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Garnet smiled.

            “It wasn’t much of a game though,” Jasper added as she walked up.  “Why did we play this team?  They we’re any competition.  How are we to prepare for the championship if we play teams like that?”

            “It’s tradition to play them; our schools have been doing it for years.  When our school was newer we didn’t always win.”

            Jasper huffed.

            “You’re just sore that Garnet made that slam dunk before you did,” Amethyst teased.

            “I am not!  That didn’t count, it was a way too easy of a game!”

            “Then why didn’t you get one too?” Lapis sided with Amethyst.

            “I didn’t get an opportunity to,” Jasper folder her arms and looked away.

            “You didn’t create an opportunity,” Garnet stated.

            “Oh yeah?  But yours literally fell into your lap!”

            Garnet frowned.  “Yes it was an easy opportunity, but I still had to work to get it.”

            “Hey, hey, hey,” Amethyst spoke up as she stepped between the two, “How about we not undercut each other’s success?  I’m sure you both will get more chances to do slam dunks against more fearsome foes.”

            The two just glared at each other for a moment.

            “As much as I am enjoying another episode of “who is better”, Peridot and I were thinking of going getting frozen yogurt after the game.  Who is in?”

            “Me!” Amethyst shot her hand up.

            “Jasper?” Lapis directed to the tallest.

            “Sure.”

            “Garnet?”

            Garnet shook her head.  “I’ll pass, got homework to finish up.”

            “Aw c’mon G, you can eat frozen yogurt, it’s not going to run straight to your thighs.”

            “Thanks for coming all of you.” Garnet turned to Pearl.  “Hopefully you’ll come to another game.  If you want.”

            “Yeah,” Pearl blushed.  “I’ll have to see with my schedule.  Things are going to get busy with dance and everything.  But I do want to come to another game,” she finished.

            Garnet smiled and then walked away with a good-bye to the group.

            “Welp,” the “P” was emphasized as Amethyst looked after her friend with disappointment.  “What about you Pearl?  Are you going to bail on us for “homework”?”

            “Sorry, but I’ll be ditching the frozen yogurt for homework as well.  Great job both of you,” she directed to Jasper and Amethyst.  The thin dancer left the group.

 

            The month of December flew by.  The semester ended and Pearl was just days away from her performance with the dance studio.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to attend any other basketball games; there was just so much for her to do.  Though, if she hadn’t picked such a complicated welding project, she might have been able to make it to one more.  The project had turned out well and she had gotten an A on it, so she was happy with her decision in the end.  Light blue eyes flicked down to the electronic device sitting on her pillow as it chirped.

            Garnet - [How are you doing?]

            Pearl – [Good, just relaxing after rehearsal.]

            Garnet – [For your studio right?]

            Pearl – [Yes.]

            Garnet – [When is it?]

            Pearl – [This Friday, I’m a little nervous it’s been a while since I’ve performed in front of a large group.  Plus I want to do well since it’s my first one here.]

            Garnet – [Well if how you danced at homecoming is any indication of how well you can, then I think you’ll do great.]

            Pearl blushed as she read it.

            Pearl – [Thanks]

            They continued to text back and forth for a little while before the conversation ebbed off.  It was another shift in her friendship with the tall stoic teenager.  After homecoming Garnet had reached out to her on a number of occasions to strike up casual conversation.  Pearl found herself doing the same from time to time.

 

            Glitter and sequins glistened in the stage light.  Pearl performed another leap; landing gracefully on her pointed toes.  The lights were hot, sweat rolled down her back, face, and limbs as she moved to the next segment of her routine.  A light smile formed on her face.  This was her element.  It was here she could tune her body to the music and let it take over.  She had practiced the routine so many times she was sure she did pieces of it in her sleep.  No matter how unnerving the size of the crowd was or the amount of pressure to do well, Pearl was able to block it out and let her movements do the talking.  As the music slowly faded away she twirled to a stop in the center of the stage to take a small bow.  It was then that she opened her eyes and truly looked over the darkened crowd that was now applauding her.  A loud sharp-whistle rang through the clapping.  The ballerina smiled and chuckled, only one person she knew would do that.  With one final movement she exited the stage and went to the back to change for the group routine she was in next.

            An hour later Pearl walked out into the throng of attendees looking around for her family.

            “Yo, P!”

            She turned to see Amethyst waving at her from a few rows away.  Blood rose in her cheeks as she noticed that Garnet was standing next to the shorter teenager.  Pearl waved back and made her way over to them.

            “That was amazing!  You were all smooth and controlled.  Damn girl you must have hella muscle to hold some of those positions.”

            Garnet nodded in agreement.

            “Well muscle gain is really a side effect of any form of exercise done to the same intensity and high number of repetitions,” she tried to brush off.

            “Don’t sell yourself short, you’ve trained long and it paid off,” Garnet spoke.

            Pearl blushed and said a tiny “thank you”.  The darkest of the three held out her hand to Pearl.  The dancer looked down to see a single red rose offered to her.

            “For doing well,” Garnet tired to act indifferent as Pearl took the single flower and smelled it.

            “That’s really sweet of you, thank you.”

            “You’re welcome,” Garnet blushed.

            “We tried to get more people to come, but Jasper said ballet dancing was lame, Lapis is off with her family for the last bit of winter vacation, and Peridot didn’t really respond.  It might have been that she was busy or something,” Amethyst counted off on her fingers.  “And you’re not super close with the rest of our friends, so I figured inviting them might be a little awkward?”

            “I’m very honored that both of you came.  I appreciate it.”

            “Anytime,” Garnet smirked.

            “Yeah seriously, let us know when you have more stuff going on.”

            “I will,” Pearl promised.  She then stepped forward and gave both of them a brief hug; holding onto Garnet only a couple seconds longer than she did with Amethyst.

            “Pearl?!”

            The teenager looked around to see her parents making their way to the three of them.  She waved enthusiastically.

            “Whoa, parents at six o’clock,” Amethyst loudly whispered to Garnet.

            Garnet hummed seriously.

            “Time for us to split, P, it was good watching ya!”

            “No, stay, I want to introduce you to them,” Pearl said as she caught the shorter teenager's arm.  “They’ve wanted to meet my friends for some time.”

            Amethyst and Garnet exchanged glances before shrugging.

            “Pearl!” Mrs. Tancerz exclaimed as she gave Pearl a fierce hug.  “You were simply stunning!  It was mesmerizing to watch.  Wouldn’t you agree dear?” she turned to her husband.

            “Yes it was, all of your hard work has certainly paid off.  I’m sure Ms. Quartz is very pleased with your performance as well.”

            “Thank you,” Pearl beamed.  “Oh, Mom and Dad, these are two of my friends, Amethyst and Garnet.  Amethyst and Garnet, this is my mother and father.”

            The four exchanged a brief greeting.  Mr. Tancerz noticed the rose in Pearl’s hand.

            “Who gave you the rose?” he asked.

            “Oh, it’s from Garnet, she surprised me with this.  Well actually both of them surprised me by coming,” Pearl rambled.

            “Ah, I see.”  Pearl’s dad straightened up and looked Garnet over.

            Garnet straightened up as well, folding her arms across her chest.  The teenager was a solid two inches taller than Mr. Tancerz; not including her afro.  Pearl exchanged a worried glance with Amethyst.

            “Weeeelllll,” Amethyst broke in after a couple of moments.  “Garnet and I got to head out we got practice in the morning.  Great job, P, we’ll see ya the next time.”

            Garnet smiled and nodded in agreement, her posture relaxing as she turned to face Pearl.

            “Likewise, thanks again for coming,” she waved as the two departed.

            Once the two were out of earshot her dad turned to her.

            “A rose?  Why did she give you a rose?”

            “I have no idea really,” Pearl shrugged and inhaled the nice scent of the flower.  “But I like it,” Pearl added as she smiled at her father.

            Mr. Tancerz sighed and shook his head.  “I don’t know if I like it, you can’t even see her eyes.  What is she doing wearing sunglasses inside and at night?”

            “Dear, don’t stress about it too much, it’s just one rose,” Mrs. Tancerz reasoned.

            “I suppose so.  But remember, I-we get to meet anyone before you go on any dates with them.”

            Pearl chuckled.  “Ok Dad, I will make sure they meet both of you.”

            The three talked for several more minutes, catching other dancers as they passed by and congratulating them on their performances.  Ms. Quartz also came over to speak with Pearl and her parents.  She had lots of praise and constructive comments to give to the dancer.  The red head blushed at the complements and made notes of the areas to improve.  Before too long the trio left the event and went home to celebrate the successful evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Slowly builds the stage)


	5. What Hides Behind Those Shades

^^^^^^

With some encouragement from Amethyst, Pearl makes an attempt to get to know Garnet better.

^^^^^^

 

            Winter vacation ended and the teenager found herself facing her second semester at the now familiar school.  Pearl sat in the lightly padded seat in the small office as Rose Universe cheerily conversed with her.

            “So with one semester under your belt, how are you doing with this new school?” Rose asked.

            “I enjoyed it.  It was challenging and stressful, but I’ve done well in all of my classes.”

            “Any highlights in particular academically?”

            “Well…in my shop class I did a semester project on MIG welding.  I ended up creating something that was more complicated than required.”

            “And what was that?” Rose leaned forward slightly.

            “I made a basic coal grill for my family,” Pearl smiled.

            “A whole grill?!  That’s incredible, tell me more.”

            Pearl beamed.  “The two round halves were pieces of scrap steel sheets that I had bent into the needed shape and then welded together.  Attaching the legs wasn’t too difficult after the main body was completed.  The hardest part was actually making the grate; I had to set up a jig to help hold the rods evenly in place as I welded them together.  I also made sure to finish the main body off with a nice coating of paint to make it rust resistant.”

            “Wow!  And have you had a chance to test out your grill?”

            “Not yet, it wasn’t finished until December, and by then we had a couple feet of snow.”

            “Well, I’m sure you’ll get to try it out in the summer once everything warms up a bit,” Rose grinned.  “How is the dance class treating you?”

            “I’m having plenty of fun in that class too, I already know most of the moves, but it’s fun to practice more and do different types of combinations.”

            “What about your social life?  I saw you at the Homecoming dance with your friends, did you have fun?”

            Pearl nervously laughed as her mind recalled the night, more or less focusing on the time she danced with Garnet.  “That was my first school dance, and I couldn’t have gone with a better set of friends.  We all had a great time together.”

            “I’m glad!  I would have loved to have said hello to you, but there were some students getting a little too friendly with each other that I needed to break up,” The larger woman rested her chin in her hand and slightly shook her head.  “We don’t have much time left before you have to go, but I just wanted to check in with you really quick.  Are there any issues with your schedule for the second semester?  I know it’s basically the same as last semester, but I wanted to make sure.”

            “No, there’s no issue at all.  It will work great.  Thank you for meeting with me.”

            “Anytime,” Rose beamed.  “And you can talk to me about topics other than academics, if you ever felt the need to talk about something and didn’t know who to go to.”

            “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind,” Pearl said as she gathered her backpack.  The thin dancer left the office with a wave to the friendly woman.

            _I doubt I’ll ever need to talk to Rose about anything else, but it was nice of her to offer that._

 

            In a matter of days the teenager found herself back into the daily routine of school, dance, homework, and sleep.  However, with the huge performance now over, she had managed to scrap a little more time together to attend a couple more basketball games.  For her three friends on the team, they were starting the regular season with an undefeated pre-season.  Amethyst had told her some of the highlights of a couple of the close games, usually the ones that involved her making the last shot or stealing the ball away at the last moment to run down the clock.  Since the start of the second semester, Pearl had been able to make it to two more basketball games.  Each time she would bring homework, and each time she wouldn’t open it up except for during halftime.  It was a fun fast paced game that was fairly easy to learn.  She was still puzzled at Garnet’s shaded goggles. There had to be a reason for them.

            One day during lunch she decided to ask Amethyst about Garnet’s constant eye covering.

            “Why does Garnet wear glasses all the time?” Amethyst looked up at her as she repeated Pearl’s question, her arms folded behind her back.  “That’s simple; she’s really sensitive to light.  Well like regular levels of light.  G will get a headache if she doesn’t wear them for like an hour or so.  If it’s a really bright light in her face she can barely see.  Then again, most people can’t see if you shine a really bright light in their eyes…” the shorter woman explained.

            “Oh, so that would explain why during basketball she wears those goggles.  They are prescription right?”

            “Yup, special shaded goggles.  G-man has great vision; she’s just sensitive to the light.  When we were younger and it got later in the day she would take them off, but for the past few years I’ve barely even seen her without them.  Maybe it’s turned into like a security blanket or something,” Amethyst mused.  “But hey!  Who am I to judge, I love Garnet the way she is, shades and all.  Plus, they do make her look super cool.”

            “Yes they are good looking on her, I was just curious that’s all,” Pearl agreed.

            “Why didn’t you just ask her?  I thought you two were on speaking terms now.  Or is she giving you the silent treatment again?” she said with a bit of a tease.

            Pearl blushed and then let out a huff.  “It was easier to ask you, that’s all.”

            “Oh c’mon Pearl, Garnet’s not going to bite you if you ask her something about herself.  Unless you want her to, then…” the basketball player wiggled her eyebrows.

            “AMETHYST!”

            “From what I’ve heard, Garnet is a good kisser.”

            “And how would you know that?” Pearl said skeptically.

            “Eh, just information that comes around from a couple of the girls she has dated.  Nothing serious, just a few dates.”

            “I didn’t know she was into women,” the red head logged away that piece of information.

            “You couldn’t tell?”

            “I try not to make assumptions about people unless I have at least some sort of evidence,” Pearl grumbled.

            “That’s fair.  Her personality in general makes it hard to tell if she’s interested in someone, male or female.  But I know her pretty well and can tell if she has a crush on someone.”

            “Does she have a crush on anyone right now?” Pearl carefully asked.

            “Why do you want to know?” Amethyst said with a Cheshire cat grin.

            “No reason!” Pearl quickly backtracked.  “I-I was just curious and the topic was brought up…”

            “P,” Amethyst stopped her.

            “What?”

            “You’re blushing.”

            The dancer quickly swallowed and turned her face away from her teasing friend.  Amethyst leaned back and laughed heartily.

            “Look, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, P.  Just talk to Garnet, it will go much smoother than you think.”

            Pearl smiled.  “Thank you, I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

            “I may not know for sure if G has a crush or anything right now, but I can tell you definitely have one,” the short basketball player mentioned offhandedly.

            Pearl tensed up and was about to make an objection when the other simply shook her head and smiled.

            “Don’t worry I won’t say anything, I’ll leave that up to you,” she finished with a smirk as she turned and began to walk towards her table with Garnet and the cool kids.

            The red head smacked her forehead with her hand.

            _That was embarrassing…_

“We could tell too, you’re about as obvious as a bull in a China shop,” Jasper added from the side.

            Lapis and Peridot nodded in agreement.

            “Just how long have you been listening?!” Pearl was mortified.

            “Hey, we’ve been here this whole time!  It was a public conversation.”

            “Ugh….” Pearl rested her head against her knees.  “Do you think Garnet has noticed?”

            The three of them looked at each other and shrugged after a moment.

            “It’s hard to tell.  None of us can really read her expressions very well.  Plus, the one she talks to the most out of our group is you,” Lapis explained.

            The fair skinned teenager simply sighed into her knees.

            “Don’t you and Garnet talk all the time?  You guys sit next to each other before calculus starts,” Peridot pointed out.

            “We do talk, it’s usually about stuff like the weather or what we are doing for the weekend.  It’s never super personal stuff.  I don’t know…I just get so nervous that I’ll cross a line or offend her.”

            “Take Amethyst’s advice into consideration.  If you want to be closer to Garnet, you’re going to need to be able to talk to her about more than the weather,” Lapis added.

            Pearl absentmindedly nodded as she began tossing around ideas of things that maybe she and Garnet could talk about.

 

            On the morning of the next math class, Pearl walked in early took her usual seat next to Garnet’s bent form.  At the sound of her chair’s legs scraping against the stiff carpet, the darker teenager sat up and gave the other a brief smile in greeting.

            “Hi,” Pearl responded timidly.

            The two sat in silence for a few moments.

            “What’s your favorite color?” the dancer asked.

            Garnet thoughtfully hummed for a few seconds.  “Maroon.  What is yours?”

            “Light blue, or baby blue, generally any shade of blue.  What is your favorite song?”

            “Conqueror by Estelle,” Garnet replied with no hesitation.

            Pearl was surprised at how easily a stereotypically hard question was answered.

            “Yours?”

            “I like a lot of music, but I’d have to say my favorite types of music are piano melodies or compositions.  Favorite type of food?”

            “Fajitas.  My mum Ruby made the best kind; lots of peppers and steak with a good kick.”

            “My favorite is raspberry tea.”

            The taller teenager just stared at her.  “Is tea considered a food?” A light tease mixed into the words.

            “Well I guess technically it would be considered a drink, but I like to have some when I’m stressed out, it helps me calm down.”

            “Ah.”

            Back and forth questions about the other were exchanged until the other students began trickling in and ending their conversation.  As Pearl moved to her assigned seat she smiled to herself.  That conversation went well. It was so easy that she almost kicked herself for not initiating it earlier.

 

            A few classes later Pearl arrived earlier than Garnet.  When the basketball player walked into the room she sat down in Lapis’s chair and lightly fidgeted with her hands.  They exchanged their usual greeting.  Garnet was tense, and seemed to be deep in thought.  Several times it looked like she was about to say something but would stop before anything came out.  Pearl just continued to look at her book reading the days anticipated lesson.  Large hands fidgeted once again as Garnet took a deep breath.

            “Pearl.”

            “Yes?”

            More fidgeting.  “Would you be willing to help me out with something?”

            “Sure, what is it?”

            “I’m having difficulty understanding the topic we started last week.”  A light blush ran across the teenagers face as she looked away.

            “Derivatives?  Sure, I can help you out with that,” Pearl smiled.  “What part are you struggling with?”

            The taller took out her note book and turned to a page.  “Well it starts with the power rule…”

            “Oh.  Ok.  The power rule has a simple pattern to it, if you get a hang of the pattern, it becomes easier to manage,” the dancer started.  “May I?” she motioned to the open notebook.

            Garnet silently nodded and then leaned closer as Pearl began to write out an example problem.  Up until the time Lapis showed up for class, the red head went over and demonstrated each rule until the other understood the concept.  The stoic teenager thanked Pearl for her help as she moved to her assigned seat.

            Over the next couple of classes Pearl continued to assist Garnet until she became comfortable with each of the rules applied to derivatives.  The basketball player was very appreciative of the help.  Pearl simply smiled and said that it was a little payback for Garnet helping her out all those months ago.  They both just ended up laughing about the memory of their first unofficial meeting.

 

            Sharp whistles cut through the air as the referees stopped the flow of the game, calling a traveling penalty on Amethyst.

            “What?!  Awww c’mon, she totally bounced the ball before moving her feet!” Lapis shouted over the noisy crowd.  “This is home cooking and you know it!”

            It was a regional game at a nearby school.  Lapis, Peridot, and Pearl had all carpooled over to watch the important game.  After winning both the league and section championships their basketball team was working through the tournament towards the final state championship game.  The platinum blonde surrendered the ball and stomped over to the zone she was defending as the other team took over possession of the ball.  So far the score was 47-56 with the home team in the lead.  It had been a rough game; Jasper had fouled out early in the third quarter due to a number of questionable calls made under the basket.  Amethyst’s usually flawless ball handling was suddenly full of travels and carry-overs.  Even with being new to the sport, Pearl could tell something was off about how the referees were calling the game.  Nevertheless, the team worked hard to keep tempers and tongues in check as they worked with the unfair calls.  The other team had double teamed Garnet since the beginning of the game and they were successful in keeping her presence in scoring and assisting with plays much lower than usual.  Fortunately, the captain was able to consistently dish the ball off to other players that were open due to the increased pressure.

            With half of the fourth quarter left their coach called for a full time out and laid out another attack plan to win the game.  Fans from both sides shouted and cheered egging their team onward towards hopeful victory.  Pearl stood and joined Lapis and Peridot in shouting their friend’s names as the time out was over and they stepped back onto the court.  One of their guards passed the ball to Garnet, who was them immediately mobbed by her two defenders.  She passed the ball to Amethyst who faked a drive and then lobbed the ball high to their other post player who was currently being defended by a shorter player due to a switch.  The post put up the easy shot and made it.  The score was now 49-56.  Copper cove’s defense was impeccable.  It wasn’t long before the missed shot was captured and sent down the court for another basket scored through seamless teamwork.

            The clock continued to click down as the two sides battled for possession of the precious orange sphere.  A basket made by the opposing team put the score at 55-58 with only thirty seconds left in the game.  Their fans groaned in frustration.  They had possession of the ball.  Amethyst passed the ball away, weaved through the defenders then popped out at the corner just in time to receive the ball and put it up for a three.  A defender had tailed her closely and jumped up to successfully block the shot.  However, the defender was a bit overzealous in their block and ended up fouling the Amethyst hard enough that even the biased referees had to call it.

            Sturdy shoulders rolled back and wiggled a little as they worked out the stress to prepare for the three free-throws awarded.  The gym became deathly silent.  As Amethyst put up the first one, the opposing side exclaimed at her in an attempt to throw her off.  Nothing but net.  The same happened for the second shot.  Pearl screamed internally as she glanced at the score board.  4.7 seconds remained in the game with the score now 57-58.  Their only option was to tie the game and work to a win in overtime.  The skilled point guard shared a glance with the captain as she set up for her final free-throw attempt.  Everyone waited with baited breath as the orange sphere spiraled through the air.  Lapis, Peridot, and Pearl grasped in horror as the ball bounced just off to the side of the rim.  Their horror suddenly turned to joy as Garnet had leaped up to briefly palm the missed basket and tip it back in for a two-pointer.

            The stands and side lines went crazy as the home team tried to scramble the ball down for an emergency basket, but they failed to make it past half court before the final buzzer rang.  Pearl and Lapis hugged each other as they jumped up and down cheering wildly at the last second victory.  Lapis threw an arm around Peridot and tugged her into the embrace as well.  Pearl turned to look at the court where the basketball players were celebrating.  Amethyst was shouting from atop of Garnet’s shoulders; giving out high-fives to whoever could reach her.

            “They won!  They totally won!” Lapis shouted.  “Woooo!  Go Copper Cove!”

            “Take that you clods!  No paid off clod refs can stop us!” Peridot chimed in.

            Pearl opted to just shout her friend’s names and cheer until her voice felt sore.  As usual the trio stayed behind until the teams came back out after the post-game meeting.  Upon seeing their friends, the three basketball players made their way over and greeted them.

            “Thanks for making the trip and watching our game,” Amethyst smiled, “We could totally tell whenever the refs made you guys mad.”

            “Yeah, that was like the whole game,” Jasper grumbled as she folded her thick arms across her chest.

            “I thought for these tournament games they are supposed to use neutral refs,” Pearl pointed out.

            Everyone shrugged.

            “It doesn’t matter sometimes, either the refs just don’t want a team to win for whatever reason or they have a bias that the governing body didn’t know about,” the short basketball player explained.  “But!  It didn’t matter tonight because we totally rocked it!  Right Garnet?  I can’t believe that actually worked, we haven’t successfully pulled that off since freshman year.”

            Garnet silently nodded.

            “Wait,” Lapis stopped them.  “You missed the last shot on purpose?!”

            “Weeeelll, I technically didn’t miss it, I made a perfect pass to Garnet look like a shot.” Amethyst used finger quotes to emphasize her wording.

            “It could have cost us the game,” Jasper frowned slightly.

            “Yeah, but it didn’t.  Look I didn’t want to try and play a whole other quarter with those refs. Garnet and I both had four fouls each.”

            “It’s not like it would have been the end of the world if either of you two had to sit on the bench like me, we got plenty of skilled players who could have filled in for you two,” the buff player countered.

            “True, but it’s not our choice on when and who gets subbed, that’s our coaches.”

            “I’ll have a word with them on seeing if we can’t add more variety to our game play, it would be good to keep other teams on their toes,” Garnet finally spoke up.  “And Jasper, stop being jealous of Amethyst’s and mine awesome move to win the game.”

            “I AM NOT JEALOUS!!”

            “We all enjoyed watching you all kill it on the court,” Lapis interjected.  “How long do you have before your bus leaves?  If you wanted you could ride back with us.  Peridot brought her mom’s van.”

            “I don’t know, usually only parents are allowed to sign us out, but we can check with our coach,” Jasper mused.  “Hey coach!” she shouted across the gym.

            “What?!” he responded.

            “Can Lapis or Peridot check us out so we don’t have to ride in the bus?”

            “I don’t care how they look at you Jasper, only a legal parent or guardian can sign you out and give you transportation.  Otherwise, you’re stuck on the bus!”

            The muscular teenager took a moment to process what was said.  Garnet and Amethyst began to giggle.  As it clicked in Jasper’s mind her eyes went wide and a light blush ran to her cheeks.

            “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!” she shook her fist at the man.  “AND FINE I’LL RIDE ON THE BUS WITH ALL OF THE OTHER PARENTLESS SAPS!”

            Garnet’s mouth quirked downward for a moment as she crossed her arms.  Pearl just barely noticed the change in demeanor before Garnet’s usual face and posture took back over.

            “So I take that as a no?” Peridot reconfirmed.

            “Yeah…I wish my dad had made it, he would have been cool with me riding with you guys back home,” Jasper scratched the back of her neck.

            “With this win, how many games is it until the state championship?” the dancer inquired.

            “Well this round of games will narrow down the 16 remaining teams to 8, then it will be the semi-finals after that, and last the championship.” She quickly counted the numbers on her fingers.  “So basically we have two games to win before getting to the state champion ship.  All in all three games to win for a perfect season,” the blonde finished with a smirk.

            “That’s not a whole lot left in comparison to how many you all have played.  Are you three nervous at all?”

            “Not really, we made it to the semi-finals last year, so we are sure to make it even farther this year.”

            “Garnet! Jasper! Amethyst!” one of their teammates called out, “we’re loading up so get your asses over here otherwise you’ll get left!”

            “Fine! We’ll just ride with Peridot anyway!” Jasper shouted back.

            “Coach says he’ll make you run if you do in practice tomorrow, ten timed suicides.”

            All three of them made a face.  They exchanged glances.

            “Well, looks like we gotta go, thanks to you all for coming out to watch us kick ass and take names!”

            “Of course, it was fun to watch,” Pearl smiled.

            Lapis and Peridot agreed and the two sets of friends parted ways.  The ride back was fun, especially with the three recounting some of their favorite moments of the game as well as making a few jokes about the bad clod refs.  As Pearl walked into her room later that night to finish her homework she felt satisfied with her decision to put it off to watch the game with her friends.


	6. The Path to a Championship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter, but it's to get things ready for next week.

^^^^^^

Copper Cove’s women’s basketball team works to make it to the state championship game.

^^^^^^

 

            Within the next week Copper Cove’s women’s basketball team went on to win their next game landing them in the semi-finals.  Their school was excited and threw a special ten-minute rally right before the end of school the day before the game.  It was simple and silly.  The activities director would get the students up and cheering as the athletes ran out and threw candy into the large gathering of students.  That really got them cheering.  Pearl reached up and caught one candy bar that came within her range.  She glanced down to see who had thrown it, only to see Garnet’s familiar grin for a brief second.  The captain turned and threw a couple more high into the top area of the bleachers.  After all of the candy had been dispersed the team gathered in the middle and the activities director brought everyone’s attention back.

            “These awesome ladies will be leaving tomorrow to fight in the semi-final’s match for the state championship!  Let’s make sure we send them off with our support!” he shouted into the microphone.  “But before we do, we will get a few words from your captain Garnet Erutav!”

            The crowd cheered as he handed the device over.  Garnet took a step forward as she brought the microphone to her face.

            “Hello!” Garnet began.  “We are ready for the game tomorrow and will come back with a win!  Thank you for your support!” her accented monotone voice boomed from the speakers.  She then stood there for a solid ten seconds not saying anything and just holding the microphone up.  Garnet glanced over to Amethyst who walked over and took the microphone.

            “Whose all amped up to have us go kick some butt tomorrow!” the platinum blonde exclaimed.  “We got a great group of ladies with us, most from last year and some fresh meat that have really added to the team.  But not only that, we’ve got the best school around!  Am I right?!”

            The group of students responded enthusiastically to Amethyst’s statements.

            “Let’s go Copper Cove, we’re gonna go show that this school is the best.  We are going to take names and make hoops!  And if the other team tries to stop us,” she threw a sly grin over at her teammates, “They’ll have to get through us!”

            All of the athletes dropped into quick poses.  Jasper stood tall, grinned, and flexed her muscles.  Many of them posed with finger guns and serious expressions or mimicking a basketball move.  Garnet simply crossed her arms and raised her chin slightly, an ever so slight frown evident on her face.

            Everyone clapped, hooted, and hollered.

            “Yeah!!” Amethyst shouted with the students.  “Thanks so much for all of your support, you all are the best!”

            The point guard then turned over the microphone to the activities director who then rallied up the students for one last cheer as the team left the gym.  Pearl shouted along wishing them good luck.  She was excited for them.  As everyone dispersed she was able to find Lapis and Peridot in the middle of a discussion.

            “I can’t make it, the drive is like several hours with traffic and I’ve got a bug ridden program that is due by the end of the week,” Peridot exasperatedly stated.

            “I would go but my car is in the shop, and my swimming coach would kill me if I skipped practice for the basketball game.”

            “So are we just going to not go?! You know Jasper and Amethyst will be super bummed if we don’t go to cheer them on.  I could go if someone else drove and I could work on my program during the drive.”

            “Yeah but your mom would get mad if anyone else drove the van besides you.  Oh hey, Pearl,” Lapis smiled as the dancer walked up to them.

            “Hey, you two, sounds like you are discussing the game tomorrow?”

            “Yeah, but so far it looks like neither of us will be able to go unless something gets worked out.  What about you, are you planning on going?” Peridot turned to her.

            Pearl frowned as she thought about it.  “I’ve got an in-class test in my last class of the day and my dance teacher doesn’t want me skipping as well.  Though my car is in good shape and would make the drive, I just can’t afford to skip my last two classes and my dance lessons; especially if I’m going to ask for it off for the championship game.”

            “But we don’t even know if they will make it to the championship game,” Lapis dramatically whined.

            “Who are they facing off against?” Pearl asked.

            “The same team who kicked them out of the championship game last year.  They are ranked second in the state.  We are ranked third,” the short-haired teenager supplied.

            “I think they will win,” the dancer stated.

            “We do too, we just feel bad not going.  Plus it’s going to be a great game to watch.”

            “Would it be broadcasted on TV or anything?”

            Both Lapis and Peridot shared a look before busting up laughing.

            “What?!” Pearl blushed.  “It’s a legitimate question!”

            “Its high school women’s basketball, it’s not going to be televised; even if it is the state semi-finals.  Maybe if it was the men’s it would be, but with college basketball games going on, there’s no room for high school,” Peridot explained between laughs.

            “Never mind my ‘silly’ question,” Pearl groaned.

            “We’ll just have to break it to them, I’m sure they’ll understand,” Lapis shrugged.  “We’ve missed games before.”

            “Yeahhhh,” Peridot grimaced.  “I’m not saying it to Jasper’s face.”

            “It’s not like she’s going to hurt you for not going!” the swimmer rolled her eyes.

            “You never know!!”

            Pearl shook her head and wished her friends good-bye.  They continued to discuss as she walked towards her car.  As she drove to her dance lessons she frowned slightly.  She would have loved to watch the game.  After a quick glance at her phone, she decided she would text her friends after her dance lessons.

 

            Pearl- [Good luck on the game tomorrow, I wish I could be there to watch you all kill it!]

            The text was delivered to the three in a couple of seconds.

            Jasper- [What’s your lame excuse for not coming?]

            Pearl- [A test and a strict dance teacher.]

            Jasper- [Fine...]

            Amethyst- [Not you too!  Aw P, you’re killing me!]

            Pearl- [Hey.  Go get a slam dunk and come back with a win, ok?]

            Pearl- [You’ll live Amethyst.  We will be cheering from home for you :)]

            Jasper- [YOU BET I WILL!!!]

            Jasper- [Thanks :)]

            Pearl- [:)]

            Amethyst- [When we win you’ll have to come to the final, I will not accept a shitty excuse like “I’m too busy with school”.]

            Pearl- [I am already making plans for the final, so just make sure you get there!]

            Amethyst- [Oh don’t you fret P, we’ll be there ;P]

            Pearl- [Good :)]

            The red head smiled as she sent the last reply.  There wasn’t a way they could lose this game, and this time they wouldn’t have to worry about biased refs.  Hopefully.  She set down her phone and continued studying for her exam tomorrow.  A soft chirp a couple of hours later brought Pearl’s attention back to the device.

            Garnet- [School?]

            Pearl- [A test and my dance lessons.]

            Garnet- [B/]

            Garnet- [Good for you though, good luck on the test.]

            Pearl- [Thanks :).  I’m bummed I won’t get to see you all play, but I’m planning on being there for the championship game.]

            Garnet- [Then I’ll make sure we are there too.]

            Pearl- [Jasper says she’ll get a slam dunk in the game.]

            Garnet- [I’ll get two.]

            The dancer chuckled, she couldn’t figure out if she was encouraging or being an instigator of the two athletes' competition.  Either way she didn’t really care.

            Pearl- [Good luck, Garnet :)]

            Garnet- [Thanks, Pearl B)]

            Pearl set down her phone once again.  It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

 

            Time moved slowly through the school day.  She didn’t have math until tomorrow, so there wasn’t a chance of seeing Garnet before class before the team made the five-hour drive to the game.  Her test went easily, Pearl wasn’t that worried about it anyway.  Dance lessons came and went.  As the dancer dressed after taking her shower, she glanced up at the time.  It was just a few minutes before the game was to start.  Once she was dressed she opened her laptop and began searching for any potential leads on if the game was either being broadcasted or streamed online.  No such luck.  A sigh was pushed out of her lungs as she flopped back onto her bed.  It would be another hour and a half or so before she found out the result of the game.  Pearl set her face and sat up.  The only way she could make time move faster would be to work on her homework.  She pulled her backpack towards her and dug out one of her notebooks.

            An even buzzing coming from her phone made the thin teenager leap for the device.  Garnet was calling her.  As she pressed the accept button a loud “Whooohoooo!” erupted from the electronic device.  Pearl held it a little away from her ear; that was definitely Amethyst’s voice.

            “Hello?  Garnet?” she asked loudly.

            “Pearl!”

            “Garnet!  How did the game go?”

            “WHOOOOHOOOO!” Amethyst said even louder.

            “Agh, Amethyst get off me!” Garnet laughed.

            “Yo P!”

            “Hello, Amethyst.”

            “We won,” Garnet’s voice quickly pushed in.

            “We’re going to the championship game!  We’re gonna win state!” the shorter of the two shouted.

            In the background Pearl could hear what sounded like Jasper exclaiming triumphantly.

            “Really?!  That’s amazing!  Awesome, I knew you would win,” she smiled.  “What was the score?”

            “It was 65-52.  We got them good.  I was really impressed with how everyone came out today, they did really well,” the captain informed as the celebration continued in the background.

            “I’m really excited for you all!  Great job Garnet!”

            “Hey!”

            “And great job to you too Amethyst,” Pearl chuckled.

            “Thanks P!”

            Garnet chuckled.  “I can give you more details later, I just wanted to call and tell you as soon as possible.  Coach is pulling us in for the post game meeting.”

            “Alright, thanks for telling me.  I appreciate that.  You can tell me all about the game tomorrow?  Before math?”

            “Sounds great.”

            “Congratulations on your win!”

            “Thanks Pearl, talk to you later.”

            “Talk to you later,” Pearl ended with a smile.

            As the call was ended Pearl looked down at her phone.  She took a deep breath and let out a loud cheer as she jumped into the air.

 

            Tomorrow’s math class couldn’t come quickly enough.  Pearl arrived a little earlier than usual, she just couldn’t wait.  The classroom was empty so she took her seat and began to pull out her notebook.  Movement in her peripherals caused her to turn and look at the silent figure that had slipped into the room.  Garnet stood at the front of the classroom with just her backpack.  Pearl got out of her desk and quickly walked to her.  A huge grin broke out on the basketball player’s face before she enveloped Pearl in a tight hug.  The dancer immediately returned the embrace.

            “You won!” Pearl exclaimed into Garnet’s shoulder.  She could feel the taller teenager’s deep chuckle.

            “Yes we did.”

            They broke apart.

            “Tell me all about it, how did everyone play?  Were the refs fair?  Did anyone foul out?  What were the cool plays?” Pearl rapidly questioned.

            “Well Jasper made a slam dunk.”

            “Really?!  That’s great!  And what about you?”

            “Hmmm, well I got one as well,” Garnet smirked.

            “Nice!  That makes it four now right?”

            “Yup.”

            Pearl laughed and gave Garnet a quick hug once again.  They sat down in their spots and Garnet retold the main events from the semi-final game.  She told how both she and Jasper got their slam dunks, along with Amethyst getting almost twenty steals in one game, most of them all from the same unfortunate player.  When Lapis and Peridot arrived they both congratulated Garnet as well on the game.  Their chatter and excitement was eventually put on hold as the teacher called for everyone’s attention at the front of the classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a shift in storytelling after this chapter. Not only will multiple POV's be implemented, but the intensity is going to start climbing. I will update the tags as they become relevant.


	7. The State Championship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters this week! I hope you all enjoy them.

^^^^^^

It’s the state championship for Delmarva.  Copper Cove versus Seacoast High School.  Pearl, Lapis, and Peridot are excited to watch their friends Garnet, Jasper, and Amethyst battle for the title.

^^^^^^

 

            People of all ages and nationalities noisily moved throughout the arena.  Concession stands were busy serving piping hot food and cold drinks at inflated prices.  T-shirts and school colors for the two teams playing tonight could be easily seen scattered all throughout the attendees.  Parents kept a close watch on their children, teenagers moved around in small groups, and adults and young adults conversed loudly.  The lithe dancer weaved through the crowds trying to find the gate where her seat was.  A section of the stands had been set aside for the students of both schools, thankfully on opposite sides from each other.  Lapis had bought all three of their tickets together for the student section so they would end up together and be surrounded by fellow supporters of their team.  Both Peridot and she paid the swimmer back as they were given their tickets.  Pearl glanced up at the gate before her.

            “Gate WW”, the sign read.

            She breathed out a sigh of relief, she was almost there.  In about another minute she reached Gate CC and headed down the steep steps towards the row and seat she was assigned to.  Before she found her seat, Lapis called her name and directed her over to their group.  All three of them, plus the cool kids, were located in the middle of the section not far from the edge of their row of seats.  The student section was already up in an uproar chanting and doing the occasional wave.  Down below the court was empty except for the chairs set up to seat the players and coaches.  A couple refs wandered across the length of the wood floor.

            “Hey, Pearl!” Lapis shouted.  “You ready for this?”

            Lapis’s face was painted half red and half gold and she wore Jasper’s home jersey top; though it looked more like the jersey was eating her due to its size.  Peridot sat on the other side of Lapis with streaks of red and gold painted across her face like war paint.  Amethyst’s jersey hung loosely on her thin frame.  The shorter girl was standing and shouting along with the cheers the student body was working on.  Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream wore their usual outfits, but with a splash of school spirit thrown in in the form of either face paint or the colors of their outfits.

            “As ready as I can be!” she returned with a nervous grin.

            “It’s going to be awesome, I’ve got a great feeling about this game.”

            “Me too,” Pearl agreed.

            They settled into random chatter and cheers as they waited for the game to begin.  It was about a half an hour before the game was to start when Pearl felt her phone vibrating.  She pulled it out and frowned at the name displayed on the screen.

            “Hello?”

            “Hey…”

            Pearl could barely make out the accented voice on the other end due to the noise around her.  She needed to move somewhere she could hear well.  Pearl stood up and began quickly making her way out towards the hallways.

            “Hey…what’s up?”

            “Pearl, I need your help.”

            “Aren’t you getting ready for the game right now though?”

            There was a long pause.

            “Please, I need your help, quickly.”

            The dancer noted the hint of urgency in the other’s usually calm voice.

            “Ok.  Where are you?”

            “In the women’s bathroom by gate E.  The last disability or family stall is where I am.”

            “Alright, I’ll be there in a couple of minutes, Garnet.”

            “Thank you, Pearl.”

            The call ended as Pearl speed walked over to the staircase and made her way down.  Thankfully Garnet’s location wasn’t that far from the student’s stands.  Her mind was puzzled though, why was Garnet asking her for help when she could have easily asked Amethyst or any of her teammates.  Why was she in one of the public bathrooms and not the locker room?  Finding the bathroom wasn’t hard, and thankfully it wasn’t too busy.  Pearl made her way to the last stall, checking for the disability sign.

            “It’s me Pearl, are you in here?” she asked the large door with a cautious tone.

            The metal lock slid back and the door opened a crack.  Pearl gently pushed it open and stepped in, quickly shutting and locking it behind her.  Garnet was leaning over the single sink in the large bathroom stall.  Her body glistened in the light with sweat as it dropped steadily off of her chin.  The darker skinned teenager was wearing only a pair of mid-thigh spandex shorts, a sports bra, and her casual shoes.  One hand gripped the edge of the sink hard enough that the tendons and veins raised up beneath the skin.  The other hand was holding a bundle of paper towels against the left side of her abdomen.  Pearl was taken aback at the sight of her usually fully clothed friend in just underwear.  She had seen Garnet’s defined arms before, but her mostly exposed torso allowed the dancer to see the powerful sculpted muscles running along her back, shoulders, and abdomen.  The basketball player’s quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteus were easily mapped out, even through the shorts.  Despite how distracting the toned athletic body was, Pearl noticed something off in her friend’s posture.  Garnet was shaking.  Her breaths were uneven; almost like she had just finished running a mile and had made a final dash to win.  Then it registered as another drop began to fall off of the basketball player’s chin.  That wasn’t sweat.  The drop fell and added to the angry contrast slowly collecting in the porcelain sink.  Light blue eyes drifted down to the towels pressed against Garnet’s side.  The precious red fluid was blossoming on the off-white paper.

            “You’re bleeding,” Pearl breathed out, panic slowly creeping into her system.  She took a tentative step forward.  “What happened?”

            Garnet clenched her teeth and took a deep breath.  “I forgot my backpack on the bus.  I would have left it, but the arena isn’t in the best part of this city.  It might have been stolen.”  The tall athlete took several breaths and added another towel to her side.

            Pearl’s eyes noticed that Garnet’s knuckles and elbows sported a few scrapes and patches of blood.  She waited for the other to continue trying to keep her own panic at bay.

            “I was coming back in with my stuff.  They were just another group of teenagers wearing the Seacoast’s colors.  I didn’t think I needed to avoid them.  They at first just made a few jeers and rude comments towards me once they recognized my warm-up attire.  I should have been more cautious with them.  They circled me and began to throw punches.  One pulled out a knife.  I-I had to fight them off and make a break for it.  I didn’t notice the cut until I was almost at the locker room.  Coach would never let me play, but we can’t afford that.  I’m the captain, I’m supposed to lead my team to victory.  I can’t be sitting on the bench because of some stupid injury!”

            Garnet’s phone began to steadily vibrate.  She snatched the device up and answered it.

            “What?”

            Pearl stood there awkwardly hearing only half of the conversation.

            “No I just got a little turned around and got lost.  No, don’t worry, I’ll be there soon.”  She roughly set the phone back down at the top of the sink.  “Shit!" Garnet's free hand ran shakily through her tight curls.  "Damn those little pieces of shit, doing such an underhanded move,” she growled in frustration as she pounded her fist against the sink.

            The dancer took another step closer and placed her hand on a bare shoulder.  “What do you need help with?”  Pearl was surprised at how steady her voice sounded while internally she was freaking out about her friend being hurt.

            Garnet turned to look at her for the first time.  Pearl really wished she could see Garnet’s full expression.  The captain looked away and sheepishly spoke.

            “I need help wrapping this up.  I haven’t been able to do it on my own, the tape keeps slipping off and my nose just keeps bleeding.  I need to slow down the bleeding so I can play.  Not for the whole game, but just to get the momentum going,” she explained as she made a motion to her hand that was applying pressure to the wound beneath.  The dancer noted a few long sections of athletic tape and other paper towels lying crumpled on the floor, patches of blood on each.

            Pearl took a deep breath and put on a reassuring smile.  “Ok, what you do have that we can use to patch you up?”

            “Thank you, Pearl,” Garnet visibly relaxed.

            “Just tell me where things are, if you’re ok with me going through your bag.”

            “No, that’s fine; second pocket from the front in the small zipper compartment.  There should be some more athletic tape and small tight rolls of gauze.  Take out two of those.”

            Pearl dug through the other’s backpack, quickly finding the described items.  Garnet took the two rods of gauze and unceremoniously shoved them up both of her nostrils.  She wiped off the blood on her face, hands, and elbows as Pearl gathered some more paper towels and began folding them.

            “How big is your cut?” the dancer asked.

            “About this big,” the taller teenager spoke with a nasally voice.

            Pearl would have let out a laugh at the comedic change in Garnet’s voice, but now wasn’t a good time.  Garnet briefly removed the towels she was holding against her side.  The shorter of the two stifled a gasp.  It ran horizontally across the lower portion of Garnet’s left abdomen, was nearly three inches long, and a half of an inch wide.  Fortunately, it looked like it wasn’t too deep.  In all reality Garnet should be going to a hospital and not getting ready to play a game.

            “Alright,” the red head breathed out.  “First we are going to try and pull it shut with some of the tape.  Then we’re going to put a nice thick square of paper towels in front and then wrap that to your body.”

            Garnet nodded.  Pearl prepared the strips of tape and the thick pad of paper towels as the basketball player attempted to wipe the sweat and blood off that area of her body so the tape would stick better.  When they both were ready Pearl kneeled down and Garnet removed the paper towels.  The dancer worked quickly to try and pull the wound closed as the crimson fluid continued to slowly ooze out of the clean gash.  After the pieces were all secure, she pressed the thick pad and began to tape it down.  They stared down at the bandage for a few seconds waiting to see if the blood would seep through.  Nothing showed.

            “Ok, that will help,” Pearl began.

            Garnet tested out her mobility lightly.

            “Just don’t over extend your torso or stretch in that particular direction.  I’ll make another pad for you that you can tape over this one just in case.  I can’t believe I’m helping you do this and not sending you to the hospital,” Pearl said the last sentence more to herself.

            “Thank you, Pearl.  You have no idea how much this means to me.”

            Pearl looked up at her friend’s face.  “Please be careful.”

            The darker teen nodded.  Pearl inspected Garnet for any traces for blood after she had gotten her warm-up clothes back on.  The shirt that had the cut and blood on it was rinsed out and cleaned as best as possible.  Garnet’s phone rang once again.

            “I’m almost there,” she spoke into the phone without waiting for the question.

            “You better be!  It’s ten minutes until we are supposed to be out there warming up!” Amethyst’s loud voice came from the small device.

            “I will, just stop freaking out, you’re not helping.”

            “Fine! Just get your ass over here!”

            Garnet made an affirmative grunt and then ended the call.  She took a deep breath and ran her hand lightly through her curly hair again.  Her face was still tight with anger and frustration.

            “Hey,” Pearl caught Garnet’s attention.  “Go out there and show them that poor sportsmanship can’t stop you.”

            “Right,” Garnet agreed with determination set into her features.  “Thank you again Pearl, you really helped me out.”

            “Anytime,” Pearl smiled.  “Now go get going before they start without you.”

            “I will.  Thank you.”

            The light-eyed teenager watched Garnet quickly exit the stall and bathroom.  Pearl clenched her fist against her chest.  She was worried.  After one glance around the bathroom stall she decided that it needed to be cleaned up quickly.  In a minute all traces of Garnet’s blood were wiped clean and all random pieces of tape and paper towels thrown away.  Pearl inspected herself to make sure nothing was on her.  With a satisfied nod she left the stall and made her way back to her seat.

            “Where have you been?” Lapis loudly asked as Pearl walked down and took her seat.  “You picked up your phone and then were gone for a long time.”

            “Oh, I just got a call from my parents that’s all,” Pearl lied.

            _It’s probably best that I don’t mention that Garnet is injured to anyone._

            “Well, you made it back just in time, the teams are running out.”

            The crowds stood and cheered as the two teams jogged onto the floor from opposite ends.  Pearl looked for Garnet and found her at her usual spot distributing the balls and leading the team in their warm-up routine.

            “Welcome everyone to the state championship for Delmarva!” the announcer boomed over the speakers.  “This game will be between the Seacoast Seagulls and the Copper Cove Mariners!  Tonight’s home team is the Seagulls in the white jerseys, while the Mariners will be the visiting team in the red jerseys.”

 

            Garnet let out a deep breath and steeled her spine.  She pushed open the door to the locker room and calmly walked in.

            “Garnet!  Where the hell have you been?” Amethyst jumped at her the moment she stepped in.  “Coach is fuming and is considering pulling you from the starting lineup.”

            “I got lost,” was all she offered in her defense.

            “Garnet,” her coach’s voice called.  He pulled her off to the side as the rest of the team milled about preparing for the game; they all had finished dressing a long time ago.  “Where were you?  You left to get your bag and then didn’t show up for over a half an hour.”

            “It took longer than I thought to get into the bus and then got turned around on my way back.”

            He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.  “I really shouldn’t be tolerating this.  You can’t just disappear right before game time, we need to stick together.  Take a buddy next time.”

            “I will.”

            “Go get changed, we are having one last huddle before we walk out.  And what’s with your voice?  You got a cold or something?”

            “No,” Garnet grabbed her gym bag and headed into a bathroom stall.

            As she stripped back down to her underwear she checked the bandage.  It was holding and nothing had seeped through.  The tall athlete breathed out a sigh of relief and thanked the stars that they were the visiting team for the game.  This way her red jersey would hopefully lessen the chances of her being caught bleeding.  Once dressed she made her way out to the main meeting room.  Their coach had an inspiring speech prepared for them that got their excitement boiling.  Garnet then took the floor and rallied her teammates with her usual blunt and simple speech.  In minutes they marched through the concrete tunnel and onto the wood floor of the stadium.  Loud cheers greeted them as their team name was spoken over the speakers suspended in air.  They jogged out and set their bags down.  Garnet grabbed the two balls for their warm up drills and took control.  She couldn’t afford to show any weakness, she couldn’t let any of her teammates sense her dampened levels of energy.  The team captain internally roared and fired up her adrenaline.  They were going to win and she was going to do everything in her power to ensure that.

            The lights were dimmed and spot lights shined down on them as each of their names were listed off.  She jogged across and briefly shook the hand of the opposing team’s coach.  It was game time.  Across from her stood an equally tall athlete; they both touched the basketball before the ref threw it high into the air as he blew his whistle.  Garnet leapt with all her strength and just barely was able to tip the ball towards Rhonda.  As she landed a frown quirked onto her lips; the jump caused an ever so slight shift in her bandage.  She needed to be careful.

            Amethyst weaved and dribbled the ball battling against her defender as she called out a play.  Garnet sprang into motion as she set up a screen for Jasper.  A swift pass later and a quick rebound turned into basket put them up 2-0.  The dark-skinned athlete breathed out evenly, she could do this.  They could do this.  They will win.

            Four minutes in Garnet was dancing between the player she was defending and her potential options.  The other player bounced the ball and pivoted around Garnet, the girl’s elbow hitting Garnet just above her cut.  The captain swore she saw the floor jump up into her field of vision and dance around like it had bugs in its pants.  Her ears picked up the cheers of the crowd as both sides were now running towards the other basket.  The player she had been defending must have made their basket.  Goggled eyes found her coach yelling from the side lines for her to get focused.  She nodded quickly and got into position for their next play.  Two minutes later she was swapped out for a rest.  The curly haired teenager almost collapsed into her chair, but she held fast and sat down smoothly.  Sweat streamed down her body, slowly soaking her uniform.  Measured sips were taken from her water bottle as she cheered on her teammates from the side.

            In the beginning of the second quarter she was back onto the court running her heart out and giving her all to prevent anyone from getting past her.  Once, twice, three times.  Garnet lost count of how many times she felt her bandage slip and pull.  Each time she would grit her teeth and chase after her opponent even harder.  The stands jumped and cheered as she blocked a potential three pointer.  Jasper snatched the ball before it could bounce out of bounds and threw it down to one of their guards who was open.

            By half time the score was 37-36.  The two teams were constantly back and forth on who was ahead by a point or two.  Once in the locker room Garnet briskly walked over to the empty bathroom area and leaned on one of the sinks.  Everything was swimming back and forth.  She felt like she was trapped on the high seas with a terrible storm rocking the boat back and forth.  Large hands reached up at her nose and yanked out the gauze rolls she had shoved up there and threw them in the trash.  The two rods were soaked in blood.  She waited for a few moments to see if any more blood was going to come out.  Thankfully none did.  Garnet breathed a sigh of relief and reveled in being able to breathe through her nose again.  It was still a little tender from the couple of hard hits she took, but after prodding it a little the curly haired teenager decided it wasn’t broken.  She then pulled up her jersey top and checked the bandage.  A frustrated groan slipped past her lips as she spotted the significant angry red patch seeping through the white tape.  Fast hands opened up her backpack and pulled out the extra square Pearl had made for her.  Thick lips turned up in a brief smile as she was flooded with the memory of the thin dancer helping her out.  Garnet carefully pushed it into place and taped it down.  With that secure she ran a section of her jersey top under cold water to rise out some of the blood that most likely got on it.  As pink water was rung from the jersey, the captain’s suspicions were confirmed.

            “Hey, G, get on out here we got-woah what is that?”

            The darker skinned teenager looked up to see Amethyst staring at her stomach.  She casually finished ringing out her jersey and tucked it back in.

            “What was that?” Amethyst asked again.

            “What was what?” Garnet said through her expressionless face as she walked out of the bathroom area towards the short point guard.

            “That thing around your waist; it was like tape or something.”

            “It was my underwear band,” she lied as she walked over to where all of the other players were.

            Amethyst paused and stared after her friend.  “You don’t wear your underwear that high…”  A small frown made its way onto the platinum blonde’s face.  Something was up.  Thankfully for the captain, the team was heading back onto the court before her friend could ask any more questions about Garnet’s “underwear band”.

            Before Garnet really felt ready, she was back on the basketball court battling for possession of the precious orange sphere.  Each minute she could feel her strength seeping out of her as her side pulsed along with her rapid heartbeat.  Four minutes on two minutes off.  The coach wasn’t taking any chances with the game.  Despite her injuries Garnet still managed to perform as she usually did; ten blocks, twenty-one rebounds, eight points, two steals, and seven assists.  Jasper and Amethyst were power houses as well.  Both would get a couple minutes of rest while a reliable teammate from the bench would shake things up and then they would be sent pack out with fire in their veins.  Each time Garnet was subbed back in she felt her body responding less and less to the fire she had been relying on to perform in the game. 

            By the time the fourth quarter was halfway done the score was 57-59.  The floor lurched at Garnet once again and her vision began to darken.  She fought the silence threatening to consume her as she stood by the player she was defending.  A knee hit the floor with a hollow thud.  In the distance she could make out the sounds of her player calling for the ball.  Garnet growled and forced herself to stand.  Hands reached out and took a hold of the ball her player just caught.  With a fierce twist she yanked it from them.  Fire shot through her side as she felt something pull free.

_That can’t be good…_

            Through the haze surrounding her head she stumbled and instinctively dribbled the ball, pivoting away from her defender and looking for one of her teammates to pass the ball to.  With one hand she bounce passed the ball into Amethyst’s waiting hands before her defender could take the ball back.  The opponent took off chasing the orange sphere down the court.  It took two shaky steps before Garnet was able to force herself into a run.  Before she was halfway down the court she saw the ball sail out of Amethyst’s hands and sink for a three.  A smile formed on her lips, she was really happy with how well her stout friend was performing.  With three minutes and twelve seconds remaining the score was 60-59.

            Their head coach pulled her out a few moments later saying that he was giving her one minute to rest and then she was to go back out and leave everything on the court.  The captain wordlessly nodded as she took controlled sips from her water bottle.

            With one minute remaining the teams were tied 65-65.  As the Seagulls threw in the ball from the side line Garnet sprinted forward and intercepted the pass.  She galloped down the court with the opposing point guard nipping at her heels.  The tall player knew she wouldn’t beat her to the basket on foot, but in the air the shorter player wouldn’t even be a threat.  At the free throw line she pushed off with all her strength and stretched her arm out as high as it could go.  The rim hit her wrist and her large hand pushed the ball through the net.  Her body fell and hit the padding on the front of the basketball stand.  As she slowly regained her feet she could see the stands dancing in triumph or frustration.  Off to her side she saw her teammates and her coaches calling her to get up and chase the fleeing ball.  Unsure feet raced down the court to guard her opponent.  Thirty seconds left.  The Seagulls worked the rim, trying to waste time and sink a shot to either win or tie the game.  Ten seconds left Amethyst caught a tip of the ball and sent it off of its intended path.  Their guard leapt after the ball and secured it.  Seven seconds.  Amethyst danced around the three-point line as their guard spun away from her defender.  Four seconds.  The ball was successfully delivered to the platinum blonde’s hands.  Three seconds.  Immediately it was sent arching high into the air.  Two.  Nothing but net.  One.  The stands went crazy.  Zero.  Garnet stood there in shock as she stared at her longtime friend.  Amethyst ran over to her and tackled her with a hug screaming that they had won.  It clicked.  They had won.  They had won the state championship.  70-65.  Garnet hugged Amethyst back and let out a loud exclamation.

            The players on the court were surrounded by their teammates and the students rushing the court.  Both Amethyst and Garnet were lifted into the air as people patted them on the back and gave them high-fives.  Amethyst hollered and cheered as she sat on top of Jasper’s shoulders.  Garnet relaxed briefly into the hands of her teammates who were holding her up.  After a couple of moments they put her down and they all congratulated each other on the perfect season.  The captain was proud of her team.  They all had worked so hard together to reach this goal and complete it.  Once she had given all of her congratulations to her teammates, Garnet began looking through the crowds for a certain red head.  She pushed through students, parents, attendees, giving high-fives and accepting pats on the back for her work.  Slowly she worked towards where the student section was.  Maybe her friend was near there.

            “Garnet!” Pearl exclaimed out as the pale teenager saw her push through the crowd.

            There were so many things Garnet would have loved to say to her friend.  There were so many things she would have loved to do, but all that really happened was that she quickly embraced the smaller teenager and grinned like a Cheshire cat.  She didn’t care how much sweat, and possibly blood, she was getting on Pearl; she just wanted to share this victory with her.  After what seemed like a solid minute Garnet released Pearl from her tight hug and pressed her sweaty forehead against hers.

            “We won!” Garnet exclaimed.  “We really won!”

            “You played amazing!” Pearl smiled back, a furious blush covering her cheeks.

            “Thank you!  Thank you so much!”

            The curly haired teenager would have picked Pearl up, but her legs decided it was a good time to give out.  Garnet almost fell to the floor, but was saved once again by the lithe dancer.  Pearl hefted one of Garnet’s muscular arms across her shoulder and wrapped one of her thinner one’s around Garnet’s waist.  The captain leaned into the support and giggled; throwing her head back and sinking into the euphoria of the win and possible light headedness from the loss of blood.

            “Garnet, are you ok?” Pearl asked from her side, her face creased with worry.

            “I’ve never been better,” she smirked.

            The dancer gave her a tired smile.  “How’s your side?”

            “It held, all thanks to you.”

            “I’m glad.”

            The cool kids approached the two from the sidelines and gave their congratulations to Garnet; listing off some of their favorite plays of the game.

            “Yo G-man!” Amethyst shouted from atop of Jasper’s shoulders.  Lapis and Peridot stood on either side of the two basketball players.  “We need to get back to our chairs for the awards ceremony.  They are going to be calling everyone back to their seats here pretty soon.”

            Garnet nodded.  “I’ll be over in just a bit.”

            “Don’t take too long with Pearl!” Jasper added with a wink as she turned and lumbered away.

            Both teenagers felt their faces flush.  Garnet looked down at Pearl and laughed lightly.

            “Are you going to be ok?” Pearl asked as the swimmer and computer geek walked over towards them.

            “I’ll be good, thank you.  I’m just a little tired that’s all,” Garnet breathed out as she stood up straight.  “But, if I were to fall again I wouldn’t mind if it was you that caught me,” she added with a light tease.

            Pearl’s cheeks flushed even more as she looked away and let out a huff.

            “Will you meet with me after the awards ceremony?” Garnet asked.

            The red head looked back at her and gave her a small smile.  “Yes.”

            Garnet grinned and gave Pearl another sweaty hug before she walked back towards the bench.  Slowly all of the participants were called to sit back in the stands by the announcers and event security.  The curly haired captain sat back and cheered as Amethyst was named game MVP with her impressive fifteen steals, five rebounds, ten assists, and twenty-three points.  Seacoast’s captain was named the MVP for their team.  Then, much to her surprise she was named the tournament MVP due to her constant contribution in each game.  She waved out into the stands as she accepted the small plaque they had given her.  Finally, and most importantly, their team was lined up and awarded the national championship.  Cameras flashed, cheers rang through the stands, and some tears were shed by her coaches and teammates.  This was a night she was going to remember for forever.

 


	8. Stitches and Street Lights

^^^^^^

Pearl and Garnet become a little closer as they celebrate the basketball team’s victory.

^^^^^^

 

            The head coach for Copper Cove Women’s Basketball pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back on the metal lockers behind him.  His team captain sat on a bench with a neutral expression while standing next to her was a guilty looking junior.  Pearl was her name; she was friends with Garnet, Amethyst, and Jasper.

            “It never occurred to you to even mention this to me?!” he was trying really hard not to get too upset over this.

            “Or any of us?!” Amethyst added in, hurt evident in her voice.  “We’re your team!  We sweat, we play, we cry, we BLEED together!”

            Garnet frowned ever so slightly, almost as if her actions were now just catching up to her.  “I couldn’t…I didn’t want to worry any of you.  We had a game to play I couldn’t let this get in the way.  What kind of captain bails on her team when they’re about to play in the state championship?!”

            “What kind of teammate doesn’t tell her teammates that she’s been attacked and has been bleeding?” Amethyst fired back.

            “We all noticed something was off, you were holding your side, stumbling around…” Jasper added.

            “What does it matter?  We won didn’t we?”

            “Yes we did win, but Garnet the point everyone is trying to make is that you should have communicated to us that you were hurt and needed help.  You could have gotten better care, no offense to your friend Pearl, and we all would have been able to support you better,” the coach regained the conversation.  “You are great at working with your teammates on the court and in practice, which is one of the reasons why you are the captain, but your weakness is that you don’t let those who care about you know when you’re struggling.”

            “What good would that have done?” Garnet grumbled.

            “What?”

            “If I told you all that I had been attacked by our opponent’s fans and potentially put out of the game, how would have that affected everyone?”  Silence hovered for a moment before Garnet continued.  “I didn’t tell anyone because I know the affect I have on the team, just like how everyone else affects the team in their own way.  If we let that incident get under our skin and throw us off our game then we could have lost.  I kept it secret because that potential future could be avoided if no one knew.”

            “I understand you were trying to do Garnet and there’s nothing we can do about what has happened, but next time you have to report this.  We are your team; it’s ok if you aren’t infallible to us.”

            The curly haired teenager just looked off to the side and crossed her arms.  The coach sighed and shook his head.

            “In the end, I’m proud of all of you.  We had a great season and ended it with a goal that had been set long before I became the head coach.  Congratulations to all of you.  No single player won this game, but a team of amazing young women did,” the coach addressed everyone.

 

            After another more private discussion between Garnet, the coaches, Amethyst, and Pearl; Pearl’s offer to take Garnet to the urgent care was accepted due to it not being appropriate for one of the coaches to take her, none of the players having their cars, and that Garnet’s guardian was not at the game.  The ride over was silent and slightly awkward.  The darker teenager felt bad for catching Pearl in the cross-fire.  As she was taken back to get stitched up she waved at her friend who was left sitting in the waiting room.  Garnet laid back in the chair as the nurse applied the anesthetic to her abdomen and began cleaning out the wound.  Had there been a different way to handle that situation?  Yes.  Did she regret what she had decided to do?  No.  Even though she knew Amethyst would be hurt for a few days and Jasper would give her a hard time about it for the rest of her foreseeable future, she didn’t regret her decision.

            The phone in her hand vibrated.

            Amethyst- [We are getting a party set up at Jasper’s place, her dad is more than willing to have a bunch of us over and celebrate our victory.  Will you and P be coming over once you get all fixed up?]

            Garnet- [I wouldn’t miss it B)]

            Amethyst- [Good, come over once you’re done.  We’ll have things ready in like 30 min.  I texted P and she said she would consider it.]

            Garnet- [I’m sure she’ll come.]

            Amethyst- [She better!]

            The basketball player closed her eyes and let her head lay back on the head rest.  She was tired and needed a shower.  A few minutes later she was back in the car with Pearl as she drove towards Garnet’s home.

            “Do you want to go to the party at Jasper’s?” the taller teenager inquired.

            Pearl pursed her lips and thought for a moment.  “I am not sure.  It’s been a long night, but it is a good reason to celebrate.”

            Garnet shrugged.  “We can go, I’ll most likely go for a little and talk before heading back home.  We don’t have to stay long.”

            “Yeah…I can do that, just a short party.  It’s already eleven o’clock.”

            “Are you cool if I take a quick shower and change before we head over?” Garnet asked as they arrived at the front of her house.  “We can also stop by your place if you want as well,” she added.

            “Yes that’s no problem.  I don’t need to freshen up so you just do your thing and I’ll just wait out here.”

            “Come inside.”

            “What?”

            “There’s no need for you to wait outside in the cold.”

            “I can just leave the car and the heater on,” Pearl weakly protested.

            Garnet just smiled and extended a hand to her.  “C’mon.”

           

            Pearl stood awkwardly in the living room as Garnet left to get her clothes and take a shower.  Once she heard the door to the bathroom close she began to walk around looking at the various pictures on the mantle and walls.  There were a few pictures of a younger Garnet being held or standing between two other women.  One had long blonde hair that covered her eyes, dark skin, and a calm smile.  The other had a wild mane of black curly hair that reminded her of Garnet’s, rich brown skin, and a huge wide smile.   Unfortunately, there were no pictures of Garnet and what appeared to be her two mothers taken recently.  Slowly Pearl made her way through the kitchen and back towards the bedrooms.

            _I shouldn’t be poking around this much.  It’s rude._

            However, the curious dancer rationalized off that Garnet had told her she was welcome to look around.  She briefly looked into Garnet’s room before quickly turning away.  No that wasn’t a good idea.  In the single story house at the end of the hallway was a partially opened door.  Pearl walked over in the dark and pushed open the door carefully.  It was the master bedroom.

            In the center was a queen sized bed.  On both sides of the bed were night stands and dressers; all clean and with a small number of decorations and personal trinkets on each.  It was still, almost a little too still.  Pearls eyes caught the dull shine of silky fabric as light from the moon hit it through the blinds.  In the middle of the bed near the foot was Garnet’s home jersey top.

            “I give it to them every game,” Garnet’s accented voice came from right next to her.

            Pearl visibly jumped and spun to face her friend who had silently appeared right next to her.  “Don’t scare me like that!” she gasped.  “I didn’t even hear you.”

            “Sorry,” Garnet grinned.

            Pearl looked back at the jersey.  Garnet walked into the room and Pearl carefully followed.  There was a note on the top of the jersey.

            “Wish me luck!” – Love, Garnet

            “Your parents?” the dancer asked.

            “My mothers, Ruby and Sapphire.”

            “Oh!  Who had you?”

            “Neither, I they adopted me when I was a baby.”

            “Oh, I didn’t know that.”  Pearl chewed her lip.  She didn’t really know what else to say.

            “I like to leave my jersey for them; that way it’s easier to picture them in the stands cheering for me.”

            “It’s a shame they weren’t able to make the game, but I bet they will be ecstatic to hear all about it once they come home.”

            Garnet chuckled.  Pearl swore she heard a hint on sadness.

            “They were at the game, I’m sure of it.”

            Pearl gave Garnet a confused look.

            _If Garnet’s parents were at the game, why did I take her to the urgent care and not them?_

She looked at the room once again.  The jersey looked like it had just been set there a few minutes ago, instead of hours, when Garnet must have left it earlier today.  The stillness of the room, the small almost unnoticeable layer of dust, the lack of recent pictures.  It was all slowly adding up.  Pearl reached out and grabbed Garnet’s elbow as her mind figured it out.  She looked up at her friend, silently asking her question.  It was times like this that the dancer wished she could see her friend’s eyes and not just the lower half of her expressionless face.

            “It was winter time, icy roads and a drunk driver.  They were always together.  I’m happy they got to be together until the end,” Garnet loosely explained.

            Pearl’s grip tightened as she looked away and put her hand over her mouth.

            “They were the best parent’s I could have asked for; always there to support each other through thick and thin, through times of peace and conflict.  They always encouraged me to do my best and to work towards my goals.  Whenever I had questions they would answer as best as they could.  There was no question in my mind of how much they loved me.”  Garnet paused for a couple of breaths.  “Although it probably was for the best that they couldn’t physically be there for the game, I’m sure my mother Ruby would have punched the lights out on those teenagers that attacked me,” Garnet tried to finish with a laugh.

            The dancer turned and embraced the taller teenager; her head resting in the crook of her neck.  For whose comfort she was hugging Garnet, she didn’t know.  Warm arms returned the embrace.

            “How long have they been gone?”

            “Six almost seven years.”

            Pearl grimaced.  That was a long time.

            “Have you been alone since?”

            “No, until I was fifteen my guardian Jaune lived with me and helped to teach me how to live on my own.  She was a good friend of my parents; she’s been a part of my life since I was adopted.  Once I was fifteen Jaune figured I was old and capable enough to take care of myself, but that she would be there if I ever needed help.  We spend time together every couple of days or so to catch up and take care of any business.  She’s very busy though, so it can be hard to do so at times.”

            “I’m glad to hear that,” she said as they continued to hold each other.

            Garnet hummed in agreement.  “Are you ready to go to the party?”

            “Are you?” Pearl asked as she stepped back.

            “Yes.”

            The two wordlessly walked out of the still room and towards Pearl’s car.  Soon they were driving off to Jasper’s house.

 

            Loud music could be heard through the oak door as the two approached side by side.  Garnet didn’t even bother to knock she just opened the door and walked in.  Dozens of students milled about drinking juice or soda, chatting, and eating food.

            “AANND THERE SHE IS!  TOURNAMENT MVP G-MAN!” Amethyst hollered from the kitchen waving the hotdog she had in her hand before running over to them.

            “Speak for yourself, state championship game MVP Amethyst,” Garnet smirked.  “Your three’s kept taking the fight out of them.”

            “Aww shucks, G, stop making me blush,” Amethyst waved off.  “Sup, P!” the platinum blonde greeted Pearl.

            “Hey you two, glad you could make it!” Lapis called as she walked over with Jasper and Peridot.

            “Hi, looks like a lively party.  Thanks for inviting us Jasper.”

            “It wasn’t a problem, my dad loves any chance to bust out his grill and show off his cooking skills.”

            “GET ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE HOT! HOTDOGS AND HAMBURGERS!” the group heard Jasper’s dad call throughout the house.  Several teenagers ran towards the burly man hoisting a platter of freshly grilled meat.

            “You guys hungry?  There’s plenty,” Jasper asked.

            “The hamburgers are great,” Lapis added.

            “She’s had two already,” Peridot commented from the side.

            “Hey!  It’s swim season, I need the energy if I’m going to be swimming five miles or so a day.”

            Peridot held up her hands in surrender.  “There are chips, potato salad, and some fruit there too, Pearl.  We know you’re not a huge fan of meat.”

            “Thanks.”

            “I am a bit hungry,” Garnet admitted.

            “I bet you are, did you get like a hole in your stomach or something from that cut?”

            “Oh please Amethyst, it wasn’t that deep,” Pearl sighed.

            “Hey, you never know.”  The shorter teen’s face lit up, “but you do know, you helped fix her up!  Let me see Garnet, how many stitches did you get?”

            “I got eighteen stitches,” she chuckled as she lifted up her shirt and pulled away the fresh bandage to display the blue thread running horizontally across her abs.

            “Woah!  That’s legit!”

            “Just how much blood did you lose?” Lapis asked.

            “A bit, but not nearly enough to need a blood transfusion.  Though the doctor said I should probably take it easy until I get the stitches out.”

            “I am surprised and not surprised at all that you pulled off that stunt,” Jasper shook her head.  “I’m not going to say anything more, because I am just as happy as everyone else that we won.”

            “Well I couldn’t have done it without Pearl,” Garnet said as she put her arm around the red head and pulled her in for a side hug.

            Pearl blushed and tried to wave off the compliment.  The group of friends split to acquire food, drink, or converse with the other partiers.  The dancer stayed next to Garnet for the majority of the time.  She didn’t want to leave and have the other fall or something.  At first she wondered if Garnet minded her slight hovering, but after a bit she figured that the darker-skinned teenager would have said something.  Around one o’clock in the morning the two took a seat on the empty couch, Garnet’s arm draped over her shoulders.

            “You should probably take off your shoes,” Garnet off-handedly mentioned as she pushed hers off with her feet.

            “Why?” Pearl questioned as she leaned lightly against Garnet’s warm side.

            “Just in case you fall asleep.”

            Pearl frowned in confusion, but did so anyways.

 

            Amethyst squinted and aimed.  With a quick flick of her finger she sent the paper football flying off towards the uprights that Jasper had formed with her thumb and pointer fingers.  The piece of paper veered to the left and got stuck in Jasper’s wild sand colored hair.

            “Aww dang it!” she exclaimed.  “One more try!”

            “Nope, it’s Peridot’s turn,” Lapis said as she plucked the piece of paper out of Jasper’s hair.

            “She can have my turn,” came the sleepy voice from the other side of the table.

            “Yes!”  Amethyst snatched the paper football out of Lapis’s hand and aimed once again.  Jasper silently rolled her eyes.

            “Are you all planning on staying the night?” Jasper’s dad asked as he walked into the dining room, where the four were.  “It’s about time I chase all of the remaining teenagers out of my house and got this place cleaned up.  If you stay, you will be given a job to help clean up.”

            Jasper looked at each of her friends.  “Do you want to stay the night?”

            They all looked at each other and shrugged.

            “Why not?” Lapis spoke up.  “Plus it looks like the two of you could use the hand in cleaning up.”

            “Sure, Jasper.” Amethyst smiled before she flicked the paper football again.  It veered off to the right this time.  “Maybe we should check with P and G and see if they want to…” her sentence trailed off as she looked into the living room.  “It looks like they won’t be much help.”

            “Why?” Peridot grumbled from the table.

            “Look for yourself, I’m going to go get a permanent marker,” the stocky teenager impishly grinned.

            The other three teenagers walked over to the living room while Jasper’s dad was chasing the last of the other teenagers out of the house.  Pearl and Garnet were fast asleep on the couch.  Garnet’s head was tilted up at the ceiling at what must be an uncomfortable angle for her neck while her left arm was around Pearl.  Pearl’s head was resting between Garnet’s neck and shoulder and just above her chest while one arm was wrapped around the front of Garnet’s middle.  Amethyst rejoined the group with a giggle.

            “AW WHAT!?  No shoes!?”  The platinum blonde grumbled and put the marker into her pants pocket.

            “Looks like G was prepared,” Jasper laughed.

            “Well I’m still going to take a picture,” she said as she pulled out her phone.  “Pearl’s gonna freak when I show this to her.  Heh heh.  Our little P looks like she’s in heaven.”

            A small click came from Amethysts phone as she took a picture.

            “We’d better wake them up, Garnet probably should get her rest in her own bed.  She’s had a long day,” Lapis recommended.

 

            Pearl could hear someone calling her name in the distance as a hand was shaking her shoulder.  A soft groan came from her lips as she tried to fight the exhaustion keeping her eyes shut.  She pushed her face deeper into what she was resting on.  The faint lub-dub sound coming from right by her ear made her mind wake up a little faster.  Whose heart beat was that?  Pearl opened her eyes and looked around.  Her arm was draped across someone’s middle and she could feel their arm around her back.  The dancer looked up just as Garnet’s face was tilting down towards hers.

            “Hey,” the tired accented voice spoke.

            “Hey,” she smiled.

            “Wake up you two love birds!” Amethyst called.

            “Amethyst…” Pearl grumbled as she slowly sat up and rubbed one of her eyes.

            “You two should head home, you look beat,” Lapis suggested.

            “I guess so, did we fall asleep?”

            Garnet nodded.

            “Sorry we weren’t supper exciting guests,” Pearl apologized to Jasper.

            “Eh, don’t worry about it, just get home and get some rest,” the muscular teenager shrugged.  “We might be hanging out again this weekend.  If not we’ll see ya again at school on Monday.”

            “Thanks for having the party, Jasper,” Garnet said as she stood up.  “And thank your dad for all the great food, I really enjoyed my hamburger.”

            “Will do.”

            After a quick farewell to their friends, Garnet and Pearl made their way to the dancer’s car.  The dancer drove once again to the taller teenager’s house.  They walked up to the door and stopped as Garnet pulled out her keys.  She turned to face Pearl.

            “I don’t think I ever thanked you properly for helping me out so much today, Pearl,” Garnet began.

            “Don’t worry about,” Pearl tried to fight the blush forming on her cold cheeks.

            “I mean it,” the other smiled.  “Thank you, you didn’t freak out, you helped me calm down, and you’ve been driving me around everywhere tonight.  I really appreciate it.”

            “I’m just glad you’re ok and will be getting the rest you need.  I was really worried there for a moment.”

            “What could I do to repay you?” Garnet asked.

            “What?  Oh no, you don’t need to repay me, we’re friends, that’s what friends do.  Besides there aren’t really many things I want.”

            Garnet hummed for a moment, deep in thought.  “How about this?  You can ask me a question or a favor.  Anything you want.”

            “I don’t think there’s really anything I want to ask of you…” Pearl began, but then trailed off as her mind began exploring the possibilities.

            _What could I ask her?  About her parents?  Her guardian?  For a kiss?  No, not the last one, I don’t think that would be appropriate, I don’t even know if she likes me like that…_

Her mind stopped as it landed on the one thing she really did want to know.  Pearl looked up at the reflective sunglasses covering her friend’s eyes.  What she really wanted to see was hidden beneath that constant covering.

            “May I see your eyes?” she tentatively asked.  “It’s dark enough outside, it shouldn’t hurt your eyes to take them off,” she quickly reasoned.

            A soft smile formed on Garnet’s thick lips as a puff of condensed air came out of her round nose.  Warm hands grabbed Pearl’s colder ones and placed them on the sides of the sunglasses.  Pearl swallowed nervously as she slowly pulled them away.  She inhaled silently. Two eyes stared back into hers.  The light from the street lamp hit them in such a way that it looked like the two mismatched irises were glowing.  Garnet’s left eye was a clear, ice blue, while her right eye was a brilliant, fiery hazel.  Pearl let out a slow breath, the condensed air from her lungs drifting up between the two of them, mixing in the air with the small clouds coming from Garnet.  Her long fingers folded the glasses and held them close to her body.  Garnet leaned forward slightly, her forehead inches away from Pearl’s, the taller teenager’s smile never leaving her lips.

            “They’re beautiful,” Pearl said, still not looking away.  She wanted to imprint this sight into her mind; she didn’t know when she would see them again.

            “Thank you,” Garnet blushed lightly; her eyes darting off to the side out of embarrassment.

            “Heterochromia, right?”

            Garnet nodded.  “It’s part of the reason why my eyes are sensitive to light.”

            Pearl handed back the sunglasses.  “Thank you for showing me, Garnet.”

            “You’re welcome.”  The taller teenager stepped forward and wrapped Pearl in a warm hug.  “I’ll see you later?” she asked after she broke the hug a few moments later.

            “Definitely,” Pearl agreed.  “Have a good night.”

            “Good night, Pearl.”

            Pearl smiled and walked away as Garnet turned to open her door.  Before the dancer got into her car she looked back to catch one last farewell from the basketball player as she stepped into her house.  As she drove home her smile never faltered.  It had been a good day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (drops this chapter and runs away)


	9. Establishing a Common Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who may have been wondering how Garnet and Jasper were able to dunk in high school, Garnet in this story is 6'3" and has an incredible vertical (due to her powerful legs :) ). Jasper is 6'6" and has a good vertical as well, though not a much as Garnet's, but it doesn't need to be because of her height. Also, most of their slam dunks were made while having a running head start or a step or two to leap into it.

^^^^^^

With the championship over, Garnet and Amethyst throw around a metal ball.

^^^^^^

 

            With a dull thud the metal sphere hit the ground and began to roll with it’s remaining momentum.  Amethyst held her ending pose for a split second before relaxing.  Garnet calmly walked in front of the rolling ball and picked it up.

            “Feels good to be out in the sun!” the shorter of the two sighed as she stretched.

            Garnet casually rolled the 4kg metal ball back to where Amethyst was standing in the shot put ring.

            “Our season sure went long, we only have a couple days left in February and track meets start in just a week.”  The platinum blonde squatted down to pick up the shot put.  “Coach was conflicted with me being gone so long with basketball, but as long as I get into my rhythm in time he won’t mind.”  She wound up and threw the sphere once again.

            The curly haired teenager silently retrieved the object.

            “Speaking of track season…” Amethyst continued.  “You going to join this year?”

            “No.”

            “Why not?  You’d kill it, you’ve got great footwork, speed, strength, they’d be killing themselves trying to figure out which events to best put you in.”

            “You know I can’t,” Garnet stated in monotone.

            Amethyst rolled her eyes and dramatically sighed.  “Right, you got your weekend job that starts after basketball season is over.  Why not do both?  Most of the meets are on Wednesdays, only the invitationals and such are on weekends.  You’d have plenty of time to do both.”

            Garnet just stared at her friend, her face not betraying any emotion.

            “Ugh!” the tan girl threw her hands into the air before winding up again and throwing the ball.

            “My work can get tiring; I don’t need the added pressure of performing in a school sport at the same time,” the dark-skinned teen gruffly countered.

            “You could do both,” Amethyst mumbled.

            The two settled into relative silence as the smaller of the pair continued to throw the shot put around.  She slowly progressed through her movements, working towards a full rotational throw.  Amethyst glanced back at her friend, who was sitting at the edge of the dirt waiting for the next throw.  She huffed out and set up for a full throw.  The shot put came out of her neck early and it sailed into the grass on the side of the dirt area.  Garnet plucked it out of the grass and walked over, handing Amethyst her Favorite Round Thing.  That was the title Amethyst had given it, the shot put had been a gift from her tall silent friend as they graduated from middle school.  Before all of the paint had been slowly chipped off with each throw, it had been a soft lavender color.

            “Something’s bothering you,” Garnet stated.

            “Oh geez, I wonder what it could be!” Amethyst rolled her eyes.

            “Amethyst…”

            “Maybe it could have something to do with last night my best friend was bleeding for a whole three fucking hours and she never mentioned it to me!”

            “Amethyst.”

            The shorter of the two ignored the other and continued her vent.  “I even saw your bandage and asked about it!  Only to have you brush me off and act like everything was all fine and dandy.”  She took a deep breath and faced her friend.  “I’ve seen you bleed before, I’ve helped you out before, why didn’t you trust me?”

            “For this reason specifically, you would have gotten worked up and it would have thrown you off your game.  We didn’t need that,” Garnet folded her arms across her chest.

            “Did you really know that?  I can keep my cool!”

            “Not when it comes to people playing dirty.”

            “Well, they hurt my friend, why would I not get upset and want to beat their faces in?  You wouldn't have acted any differently!”

           "I would have."

           "How so?"

            “Stayed cool in the game and then beat their faces in afterwards.”

            “True…” Amethyst mused.  “But can you at least understand why I’m hurt by this?! Don’t leave me out of the loop like that again.  I get that Pearl is important to you and all…”

            “You’re important to me too, Amethyst,” Garnet softly interrupted.  “I just didn’t want to worry any of the team.  I know you’ve helped me in the past and would have been able to handle it just as well as Pearl.”

            Amethyst looked away and folded her arms.

            “Hey,” Garnet smiled slightly, “Who helped me fix my broken nose back when we were fourteen?”

            The platinum blonde chuckled.  “That was me, after you took care of three of those Embers Way creeps.”

            “Mmm-hm,” Garnet hummed.

           "And who was it that helped me patch up my knees and elbows sophomore year after falling onto the concrete several times?"

           "Me," Amethyst smirked.  "Because you wouldn't give up on sliding down that one long railing all the way to the bottom without falling off."

            The two shared a quick embrace.

            “How’s it doing?” Amethyst asked as she lightly touched Garnet’s stitches through the taller teenager’s shirt.

            “Better.  Still feel a little drained and sore, but nothing a couple of days of rest can’t fix.”

            “What about Pearl?”

            “What about Pearl?” Garnet returned.

            “Do you like her?”

            “Yes.”

            “I mean like like her.”

            Garnet paused.  “I’m not sure.”

            Amethyst rolled her eyes.  “You’ve stepped in to protect her, you’ve asked her for help, and she’s probably seen you half naked, right?  How are you not sure?”

            The darker teen blushed.  “I’m just not sure.”

            “Have you ever thought about kissing her?”

            A long silence stretched out; Amethyst let it play to her advantage.

            “Yes,” Garnet finally admitted.  “A couple of times…”

            “Then it’s pretty safe to say that you like her.”

            “That’s hardly enough evidence to make that assumption,” Garnet frowned.

            “Then why are you getting all defensive about it?”

            “I’m not getting all defensive about it!” the darker teen snapped.

            Amethyst just stared at her friend with a triumphant smirk on her face.  “You just answered your own question.”

            Garnet groaned and looked away from her friend.

            “Look, now that you’ve admitted that you like her, why not ask her out?  Maybe just hang out when you’re not in like mortal peril or something?  Invite her over or something.”

            “I bet her parents would be thrilled with that.  ‘Can I have your daughter over at my place where there are no supervising adults?  Oh and by the way I might have a crush on her too.’  ‘Oh sure, that sounds like a great idea!’” Garnet acted out, changing her tone to mimic a parental voice.

            The track athlete snickered.  “You should definitely tell them that.”

            “I may not need to; Pearl might have already told them…” Garnet grumbled.

            “Why is that?” Amethyst raised an eyebrow.

            “Well she drove me to my place so I could change and shower.  I may have invited her in and she may have seen my mothers’ room and I may have told her about them…”

            Purple eyes widened in surprise.  “Woah…and you have the gall to say you ‘don’t know’ if you like her or not?!”

            “A lot happened last night, ok?”

            “Oh I bet,” Amethyst teased.  “Don’t tell me she walked in on you showering as well.”

            “Of course not,” Garnet said through gritted teeth; her face covered in a furious blush.

            The shorter of the two busted up laughing until she had doubled over.  Garnet stood tall and crossed her arms, a frown evident on her face as she waited for her friend to finish.  Amethyst evened out her breaths and slowly stood back up.

            “G, I really needed that,” she said as she wiped away a tear.  “Hey,” she patted Garnet’s lower back, “if things blow up with P, then we can laugh about it at a later time.”

            “Thanks…”

            They shared a smirk before Garnet pulled Amethyst in and ruffled her hair.  Before too long, the pair left the empty track with Amethyst’s Favorite Round Thing and improved spirits.

 

            Pearl yawned as she sat down at the breakfast table.  Saturdays were one of the few days that the all three of them could sit down and enjoy a meal together.  This morning her mother had made biscuits and had fresh strawberries washed and ready to eat.  Normally she liked to wake up early with her mom and help out with breakfast, but when her alarm went off her body had refused to get up.  It must have been the whole “not getting to bed until 4am” that killed her usual early bird demeanor.  Sleeping on the couch with Garnet for those couple of hours, while enjoyable, didn’t make up for the lack of unbroken sleep.

            “Someone’s sleepy,” her mom commented with a smile as Pearl sat down to the table.  “You were out late,” she finished with a stern gaze leveled at her daughter.

            “Quite a bit late, if you ask me,” Mr. Tancerz added.  “I’m glad I had Mr. Ganeva’s number.  A little after 1:30am I called to see if you were still there at the party since you weren’t responding to either of our messages.  He informed me you were asleep on the couch.

            “I’m sorry about that,” Pearl looked down.  “I lost track of time and fell asleep not long before then, otherwise I would have updated both of you on the party.  Next time I’ll make sure to send a text or something when a party goes late.”

            “Don’t worry too much about it,” Mrs. Tancerz said with a soft smile.  “This is the first time it’s happened and we trust you.  You have a decent bunch of friends from what we’ve heard, but this better be an outlier.”

            Pearl’s dad nodded in agreement with his spouse.

            “Yes,” Pearl affirmed, “It won’t happen again.”

            “Good.  Did you have fun with your friends?  It was a momentous occasion.”

            “I agree, state champions, that’s not something to sneeze at,” Pearl’s dad added as he buttered a hot biscuit.  “What was your favorite part of the game?”

            Pearl looked at her plate.  Scenes from the game flashed in her mind.  Amethyst’s amazing shots, Garnet’s slam dunk, Jasper blocking yet another shot, Garnet getting elbowed, Garnet nearly falling, Garnet bleeding, the still master bedroom.  “It was nerve wracking to watch actually.”

            “A lot was on the line, tensions must have been high,” Mrs. Tancerz sympathized.

            “It wasn’t that, I had full confidence that our team would win, but…” Pearl trailed off.

            Her parents waited for her to finish.

            “One of my friends got hurt, it was affecting how she was playing.  I was worried something bad might happen to her if she didn’t get taken care of properly.”

            “Did she get hurt in the game?”

            “No, it was before, some low life fans of the Seagulls decided to attack her.  She told me she had to fight her way out to escape.”

            The two adults exchanged a wordless glance.

            “Is your friend alright now?” her mom asked gently.

            “She is, but I was just so worried about her, so many bad things could have happened.  The refs could have found out that she was bleeding and she would have been removed from the game, she could have fainted or opened up the wound even more…as much as I love watching her play, I was a little more relieved when she was sitting on the bench resting.  Ugh!  Just why! Why do people do that kind of poor sportsmanship conduct?  Both teams worked really hard to be in that game.  Fans should just support the team they are rooting for and not resort to antagonizing, insulting, mocking, or even hurting the opposing team!” Pearl ranted as she gripped her head with both hands

            A moment of silence hung around the table.

            “Some people feel that’s a way of supporting their team by trying to cut down the ‘enemy’.  They just haven’t learned that their energy would be best put into use encouraging their own team to do well,” her mother sympathized.

            “And your friend showed them, she went on to help her team win the championship.  I’m sure that taught those punks something,” her dad added.

            “I hope so…”

            “Which one of your friends got hurt?” Mrs. Tancerz inquired.

            “Garnet.”

            “The one who wears sunglasses inside?” an eyebrow was raised on her dad’s face.

            Pearl nodded. “She wears them because her eyes are sensitive to light, even when she plays basketball she has to wear tinted goggles.”

            “How is she doing this morning?”

            “I don’t know…I sent her a text this morning, but she might be still sleeping or something,” Pearl said with a frown as she took a couple of biscuits and began to spread strawberry jam on them.

            “I’m sure she’s fine, if not her parents will be there to help her.”

            The dancer looked up at her mom and then looked away.  “Yeah…”

            After breakfast Pearl got to work on her weekend chores of cleaning the floors and her bathroom.  A couple of hours later, she stood up and wiped the sweat off her brow, content with the superb cleaning job she had done yet again.  A light hum came from her as she put away the cleaning tools and went into her room to start on her remaining homework.  Out of the corner of her eye she caught a new message on her phone.  She hadn’t heard it go off.

            Garnet- [Hey, sorry I didn’t respond until now.  Slept for a while, but I’m feeling a bit better today thanks to you. B)]

            Pearl- [I’m glad to hear that.  You’re going to take it easy for the next few days right?]

            The dancer groaned and quickly deleted that last sentence.

            _She knows how to take care of herself Pearl._

Pearl- [I’m glad to hear that.  The stitches are holding right?]

            She smacked her face and glared at the screen.  Why was this so hard?

            Pearl- [I’m glad to hear that.  If you need help with anything until you feel better, don’t be afraid to let me know.]

            _Definitely not sending that!_

            The thin teenager settled for the one sentence.  And a smiley face.

            Pearl- [I’m glad to hear that. :)]

            After sending the message Pearl decided to lightly bang her head against the wall of her bedroom a couple of times.  A soft chirp interrupted her angst.

            Garnet- [B)]

            She couldn’t help the smile that crept onto her face.

 

            Monday came before the group of friends got the chance to hang-out together.  Luckily, Monday was a math day and Pearl would get a chance to see Garnet before class.  She walked into the class to see Garnet resting on her desk like usual.

            “Good morning Garnet!”

            “Mornin’, Pearl.”

            Pearl looked at the familiar face covered with the usual pair of sunglasses as she sat down.  Her mind brought up the memory of the mismatched irises glowing in the streetlight.  She really wanted to see those eyes again.

            “I never really thanked you for showing me your place.” Pearl fiddled with her fingers as she carefully worded her next sentence.  “And for telling me what happened to your parents.  And for letting me see your eyes,” she added after a second.  “I really appreciated that…getting to know you better.”

            Garnet seemed genuinely surprised, she opened her mouth; then closed it and looked away, blushing lightly.  She took a deep breath.  Pearl waited for her response.

            “You’re welcome,” the darker teen finally spoke.

            The dancer stared at her for a moment.

            _I don’t know what I was expecting._

            A soft giggle bubbled up from her throat and spilled into the air.  What Pearl was laughing at she wasn’t entirely sure.  Garnet stared at her for a moment before slowly joining in.  Only a few moments later their laughter died off.

            “A lot happened on Friday, didn’t it?” Pearl spoke first.

            “Yeah…” Garnet agreed.  “I don’t usually drag someone into a situation like that.”

            “Well, if you’re ever in trouble again; give me a call and I’ll help in whatever way I can.”

            “Thanks, I appreciate that, Pearl.”

            Their conversation turned to standard questions on how one’s weekend went and what they each have going on in the upcoming week.  Before long the class was filling up and Mr. Martin was calling for everyone’s attention at the front.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also want to explain my opinion behind poor sportsmanship. What I consider poor sportsmanship is being intentionally antagonistic towards a team or players. Insults, rude cheers, lying about who touched the ball last to get a call in your teams favor, etc. Shouting loud to hopefully throw someone off a shot (while I personally don't like it), being upset about bad calls, and similar acts, I don't consider to be poor sportsmanship.


	10. Saturday Nights

^^^^^^

Jasper learns a thing or two.

^^^^^^

 

            With basketball over Garnet began her weekend job, Amethyst dove straight into track and field, Lapis was already up to her ears in water with swimming, Pearl was working on her dances for the end of the year dance performance hosted by the school, Peridot was working on building a robot for her electronics class, and Jasper had resumed her boxing classes.

            “Boxing?” Pearl looked up from her lunch at her muscular friend.  “I had no idea you knew how.”

            “Yup!  It’s my second year taking them; my dad says it’s good to know how to hold your own in a fight.”

            “Oooh you must be pretty dangerous then,” Amethyst grinned.  “Knocked any folks out yet?”

            “No,” Jasper frowned.  “You don’t try to knock out your training partners, that’s rude, only in matches do you go for the K.O.”

            “So you haven’t had any matches yet?” Peridot raised an eyebrow.  “Then how do you know if you’re even effective in a fight?”

            “My dad isn’t exactly comfortable with the idea of me fighting in the ring just yet, and since I’m under 18 and would need an adult’s signature to fight, I can’t.” the broad shouldered teen grumbled.

            “But wait, isn’t your dad the one encouraging this?” Lapis pointed out.  “So wouldn’t he be all for you fighting?”

            “I know right?!  But he says that he just wants me to know how to fight and not have me in some ring where I could get hurt.”

            “How is your ground game?” Garnet asked as she sat down next to Pearl; casually putting her arm around the dancer.  Pearl leaned ever so slightly into the touch.  Jasper gave the two an odd look for a moment.

            “Ground game?”

            Garnet nodded.

            “What do you need a ground game for?  Nobody is going to take all of this to the ground without getting pummeled first,” Jasper boasted as she stood and made a gesture to her solid stature.

            The darker teen simply frowned slightly.  Amethyst busted up laughing.

            “You know the first thing that’s going to happen now is that someone is gonna take you to the ground right?” the track athlete smirked.

            “Not if I can do anything about it!”

            “You’re sooo convincing, Jasper,” Peridot sarcastically remarked.

            The buff teen frowned.  “A lot of support you guys are,” she huffed.

            They all shrugged.  As lunch time ended and the group dispersed to their various classes, Amethyst pulled Jasper aside for a second.

            “Do you want to see a real fight?” the shorter said with a mischievous whisper.

            Jasper considered the question with a bit of caution.  “What do you mean by a real fight?”

            “Like one in a ring, two people going at each other until one gets knocked out or taps out.”

            The tall one narrowed her eyes.  “Will I get in trouble for going to this fight?”

            “Of course not, unless you tell your dad or something and he gets mad at you…” Amethyst rolled her eyes.  “C’mon, this Saturday come with me to see some fights, I’ll pay for your ticket in and everything.  You don’t have to pay, AND you get to see what it takes to fight in a ring.  How does that sound?”

            “Deal,” Jasper grinned.

 

            The buff teenager looked over her shoulder once again and grimaced.  She was starting to question agreeing to come to the fights Amethyst had talked about.  A warm safe bed looked very appealing right now.

            “You didn’t say it was in the Embers Way district!” Jasper grumbled.

            “Chill, Jasp, just walk with a swing in your arms and a look of confidence.  That keeps most of the scary people away,” the tan teenager said without a hint of concern in her tone.

            Amethyst had picked Jasper up and then parked the car in front of Garnet’s house.  Evidently the silent teen lived not too far from the edge of the district.  They had then proceeded to walk towards their unknown destination.  Jasper clenched her fists as she strode next to Amethyst’s quick pace.

            _These fights better be worth it!_

            “One more block and then we are going to be heading underground,” Amethyst casually informed.

            “Underground?!”

            “Pshhh, not so loud, like into a basement level, the entrance is at the ground level, then it drops down two or so floors.”

            “If you get us killed I’m gonna-”

            “Nothing is going to happen,” Amethyst brushed off.  “If you know what you’re doing and where you’re going.  G and I have been in this area far more than any of you guys know.”

            “What?” Jasper couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Were her friends really that reckless?  “How do you not get hurt or worse?”

            Amethyst rolled her eyes.  “How do you think Garnet was able to handle those punks who attacked her at the game?”

            “I figured she just ran away from them…”

            “No, she fought her way out, like she’s done several times down here.  Her mother Ruby was a semi-professional fighter and I know she taught Garnet a few things before she passed.”  Amethyst waved at a burly man standing outside of a door and he opened it for them.

            “But they died when Garnet was a kid, there’s no way she could still be effective from what she learned that young,” Jasper countered.

            “Who’s to say that she stopped practicing?”

            The taller teen looked down at her sturdy friend.  She suddenly felt like she didn’t know much about her at all.  As they approached a second set of guarded doors, Jasper could hear the music and sounds of hundreds of people.

            “We’ve been practicing together for some time, I can hold my own in a fight fairly well, though not nearly as well as Garnet.  Anyway,” Amethyst changed topics as they walked through the double doors.  “Welcome to The Ember Colosseum!” she exclaimed as she spread her arms out.

            Jasper looked out at the huge event center carved into the ground.  At the bottom level sat a hexagonal fighting ring.  Hundreds of seats and benches ran up from the polygon platform to the top level, giving the whole place a hexagonal look.  Groups of people milled about talking, drinking, eating, exchanging cash, etc.  Concession stands were spread out along the uppermost level with hawkers pacing around selling their goods in all other areas.  Loud speakers suspended in the air with metal cables pumped the room full of beats and the announcer’s voices that informed the customers of the remaining time until the first fight of the night would begin.  Multicolored lights danced around with the bright stadium lights illuminating the arena.  Above the speakers was a set of six large flat screens facing each of the sections displaying live feed from the currently empty ring.  Dangling just below the speakers was a large mesh of metal.  Jasper swore it looked like a cage or a trap.

            Amethyst began walking off to the side, following a marked path.  “C’mon Jasper!  Let’s go get our tickets.”

            “Yeah…right behind you,” Jasper barely got out.  She was a bit overwhelmed at the sights and sounds bombarding her at once.  This place was much bigger and much more organized than she was anticipating.

            They walked past a few patrons, a wide variety of food and drink was being sold here, from water to soda to mixed alcoholic drinks, from pretzels to calzones to ice cream.  It all smelled very appealing right now.  The shorter of the two stepped up to the booth and pulled out a yellow plastic card and presented it to the man behind the counter.

            “The buff one is with me, where are our seats tonight?” she inquired.

            “Section 3, Row 1, seats 11 and 12,” he said as the tickets were printed out.  The man tore them off and handed them to Amethyst.  “A waiter will meet with you after you’ve been seated to take any orders.”

            “Awesome!  Thanks bud!”

            He nodded.

            The platinum blonde quickly turned and weaved through the people as she navigated towards their seats.

            “Front row?” Jasper’s eyebrow quirked up.  “Impressive, how much did you have to fork out?”

            “That’s a secret,” she winked.

            Jasper frowned as she sat down in the row that was empty except for the two of them.  In fact, the two rows behind them were empty as well.  A lady in the concessions uniform approached them and asked what they would like to eat or drink.  Amethyst ordered a hearty meal of one hamburger, a hotdog, a bag of chips, a milkshake, and two cookies.  Jasper at first was going to decline and not order anything, but after some prodding she ordered a pretzel and a bottle of water.

            “Well if there is anything else you would like, please just call one of us over and we will get it for you.  And since it appears you are new,” she directed to Jasper, “It is all complimentary, so you don’t have to worry about the cost.”

            “What?!  Why is that?” The buff teen burst out.

            “We always take special care of those who are one of the Diamond’s personal guests,” she said with a practiced smile.

            “Oh…” Jasper was officially confused.

            “I’ll deliver your orders and it will arrive soon.”

            Jasper rounded on Amethyst who was leaning back in her soft stadium seat.  “What the hell is a Diamond?”

            Amethyst let out a long exhale.  “There are four Diamonds that control the majority of The Ember Colosseum.  Big corporate heads, CFO’s, who knows, they are powerful and have the money, resources, and network to back it up.  Each one has their own set of fighters that compete regularly in these matches.  There are smaller groups that have fighters, but they usually aren’t as successful since they don’t have as good of sponsoring.  One section is dedicated to one of the four diamonds, white, blue, yellow, and red, with the remaining two being neutral zones.  Where the section for each diamond is changes every weekend, to keep things equal.”

            “Ok, so why are we getting this special treatment?”

            “Like it’s all about who you know, and I have an in with Yellow Diamond.  We are like her personal guests tonight.  The tickets, the food, everything is free of charge.”

            Jasper processed the information for a moment.  “How did you become a ‘personal guest’ of Yellow Diamond?”

            “Ehhh, through a connection."

           Jasper waited for Amethyst to elaborate.  After a few moments when the shorter had yet to say anything, Jasper pushed a little more.

           "And who is your connection?"

           "Someone I know."

           "Cut out the bullshit Amethyst, I just walked through the worst part of the city to get here.  You could at least tell me how the hell everything is free.  How can I be sure that we won't be forced into hard labor to pay for this?!"

           Amethyst sighed and rolled her eyes.  "You know how I mentioned Ruby’s semi-professional fighting status?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Well Ruby fought for Yellow Diamond.  She did quite well, I only saw a couple of her matches, but she was one feisty fire ball.  Anyway, long story short, after their death Garnet had two yellow cards, one that was already hers and one that was Sapphire’s.  Garnet kept Sapphire’s and gave hers to me.  You technically only need one since one card can guarantee admittance to a group of up to 15 and unlimited food and drink under $4,000 a night.”

            “And you just carry that around with you?!”

            “Who says I do?”

            “Good point.  So your connection is Garnet?  Shit I had no idea she, or even you, were connected to this place.  No wonder you were all calm walking around up there.”

            “Hey, the card does nothing for trouble you get in in the Embers Way district, but yes G-man is my connection.  Now sit back and learn a thing or two about a real fight,” Amethyst finished with a smirk.

            Jasper took one hard look at her friend.  Learn a thing or two?  She already had.  The buff teenager turned her attention towards the ring as the two fighters were announced and entered the hexagon.  With a brief reminder of the rules, which were few, the two martial artists went at each other at the command of the referee.

            It didn’t take long for the two teenagers to become wrapped up in the commotion and excitement of the fights.  Their food was delivered shortly into the first match.  A grappler faced off against a wrestler and both ended up fighting for position on the ground.  A kick boxer danced around a grappler trying to stay on their feet while the grappler tried to stay out of range and shoot in to close the distance.  Two boxers traded punches and weak attempts at a takedown.  By the end of the night Jasper had learned quite a few things.  One, a good fighter needed multiple types of offense and defense.  Two, boxing was just one type of many martial arts out there.  Three, she was going to order more food next time.  Four, she had a lot to learn about fighting and her friend Amethyst.  Around eleven o’clock they left as the announcers were revving the patrons up for the final match in the Iron Pit.

 

            Eyes looked down and checked the fingerless fighting gloves taped to each hand.  They took two measured breaths and hopped from one foot to another; lightly shaking out their hands.  A familiar song began to pulse from the speakers and quick feet took off in a fast jog.  Bare feet pushed through a well-known path of cheering fans towards the hexagonal ring.  Before entering the ring an official inspected their body for any weapons or banned items, after giving the all clear the official motioned for them to enter the ring.  After a respectful bow at the entrance, the fighter entered the ring and paced around it as part of the crowd continued to chant their name.

            “Fusion! Fusion! Fusion!”

            With a change in music and a couple of minutes later, the fighter’s opponent stood on the opposite side of the ring.  As the ref finished the rules, the fighter readied themselves in their stance, raising gloved hands to their face and hunching slightly forward.  One thought ran through their mind as the referee signaled the start of the match and their opponent came after them.

            Win.

            A swift dodge of a telegraphed punch.  A painful punch to their opponent’s gut as a retaliation.

            Win no matter the cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HMMMMMM......Yes we will see more of this place.
> 
> (Slowly builds the stage)


	11. A Date with You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Also an announcement. As the story progresses there might be some chapters that will be rated higher than the story as a whole. If I feel that will apply to a certain chapter I will post a rating in the notes, and generally why the rating increase. Overall this story will maintain a T rating (ie PG-13).

^^^^^^

Garnet manages to gather the courage to ask Pearl out on a date.

^^^^^^

 

            Pearl’s group of friends sat at lunch once again chowing down on their various meals.  Today Jasper had brought Lapis a bag of baby carrots and a salami sandwich.  The food was accompanied with the statement of “it didn’t take much to make, so don’t think much of it.”  The dancer smiled as she watched the routine interactions between her friends.  They were a good group to be around.  Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Garnet and Amethyst walking over to them.

            “Sup P!” Amethyst greeted as she walked by.

            “Hello, Amethyst,” Pearl returned.

            “Yo Jasper!  I need to talk to you about something!” she exclaimed as she grabbed the buff teenager’s shirt.

            “What?  Hey, watch the shirt!” Jasper shouted as she was dragged off to the side.

            The pale teen turned to look at the silent figure standing next to her.

            “Afternoon, Garnet.  How are you doing today?”

            “Well,” came the simple reply.

            When nothing else was said, Pearl turned her attention back to finishing her lunch.  Garnet sat down next to her and began to pull out her food as well.  The dancer couldn’t help but notice that Garnet’s lunch was comprised of raw vegetables, fresh fruits, ripe berries, and a small portion of baked chicken breast with brown rice.  A well balanced and surprisingly healthy meal.  It wasn’t a far cry from how her own lunches.  The taller of the two ate quietly while the other engaged in small talk with Lapis and Peridot.

            “Pearl,” Garnet began after they had both finished their lunch, “May I talk to you for a moment?”

            “Sure,” Pearl turned to focus on her friend.

            “Privately?” the curly haired teen motioned to the side with her head.

            “Um, sure,” the red head shrugged as she followed the other off out of ear shot of their friends.

            Garnet’s mouth was pressed into a tight line as she stood there for a few seconds not really saying anything.  Pearl was patient, she now knew how to tell when the other was in deep thought and trying to figure out what to say.

            “Pearl?”

            “Yes?”

            “Would you like to spend some time with me?”

            “Like what we’re doing right now?”

            “No, well technically yes, but just the two of us,” Garnet stammered slightly.

            “Like what we’re doing right now?” Pearl repeated, not understanding where Garnet was going with this.

            The tall teenager closed her mouth quickly and pressed it into a firm line.  “No, not like this, differently, just the two of us, no one else.”

            “I don’t get-” Pearl began.

            “Like a date,” Garnet shot out.

            Pearl stared at her friend.  Garnet took a deep breath and spoke again.

            “Pearl, would you like to go on a date with me?”

            The sentence bounced around inside of her head for a moment, not really finding meaning just yet.

            _Like a date?  Why would she be asking me to go on a date with her?_

The realization hit Pearl with such force that she jumped ever so slightly.

            _Garnet is asking me out on a date!_

She looked at her quiet friend.  Garnet looked tense, her arms were crossed in front of her and one hand was tightly gripping her other forearm.  Her stoic face had a slight hint of panic etched in.

            “Yes!” Pearl smiled.

            Garnet seemed surprised as this response.

            “Yes, I would lo-like to go on a date with you.”

            “Really?” a wide grin cracked across her face.  “Great, are you available this Friday night?”

            Pearl mentally checked her schedule.  “After 5:30 I am.”

            “Ok,” the other let out a big breath of air.  “How would going to some place to eat, and then I show you around the city for a bit sound?”

            “Sounds great!”

            “Cool.  How about I pick you up at 6:30 from your place?”

            “That would work perfectly,” Pearl paused.  “6:30, what should I wear?”

            Garnet shrugged, “Nice casual, and shoes you don’t mind walking in.”

            “Ok!” Pearl smiled widely.

            “I’ll see you then!” Garnet said as she began to walk away.

            “I look forward to it.”  Pearl did a light leap as she walked back over to her backpack.

            “Someone’s in a good mood,” Lapis smirked.  “Whatcha talkin’ about with Garnet?”

            “Welllll,” Pearl could feel herself blushing, “Garnet asked me out.”

            Jasper and Amethyst shared a grin and Peridot glanced up from her computer, eyes wide.

            “That clod did what?”

            “Pearl’s got a date with her not-so-secret-crush!” Lapis sang.

            “That didn’t take long,” Jasper smirked.  “Congratulations, Pearl.”

            “Thanks,” she couldn’t stop smiling.  “I’m really excited, I didn’t even think she was asking me out at first-”

            Jasper cleared her throat and pointed behind Pearl as a shadow fell over her.  The dancer looked back to see Garnet reaching down to pick up her backpack.

            “Forgot this…” the darker teenager said with embarrassment.  “Also, would you mind sending me your address?  I don’t want to accidentally end up at the wrong house…”

            “Oh!  Of course, that wouldn’t be good,” Pearl laughed off her own nervousness.

            _Just how much of my gushing did she hear?_

“Thanks,” Garnet shyly mumbled as she stood up and walked away with a wave.

            Pearl turned back to her friends and put her face in her hands.

            “You two are so awkward for each other,” Peridot commented dryly.

            The dancer just laughed along with everyone else.  She stole one last glance over her shoulder at the athletic figure walking away.  Four days.  In Four days she would get to go out on a date with Garnet.

 

            “Watch the shirt you little punk!” Jasper snapped as she pushed Amethyst’s hand off her.

            “Sorry, I just needed to grab you for a second to tell you something important before you had the chance to run your mouth.”

            “Run my mouth about what?”

            “The fights, I know you tell Peridot and Lapis pretty much everything,” the platinum blonde rolled her eyes.

            “I wasn’t-well I might have…how can I not?  It was so cool!”

            “Look, you can tell them about you watching some fights with me, but don’t tell them anything about the yellow card or Garnet’s connection to The Ember Colosseum, got it?”

            “Why is that?”

            “It’s Garnet’s personal business, and I don’t want it advertised that I have this free ticket into that place.  People could come after me for it.”

            Jasper folded her arms and regarded her friend with a questioning gaze.  “I don’t think anyone here is going to come after your yellow card.”

            “You never know!  Just don’t tell them ok?  It’s mine and G’s personal business.  I trust you so I shared it with you.”

            “Fine, I won’t tell them about that stuff, ok?”

            “You better not.”

            “I won’t.”

            “Good,” Amethyst nodded, “Nice chatting with you Jasper, always a pleasure,” she finished with a grin.

            “Ditto,” the buff teenager said with a slight scowl.

            They began to walk back over to their friends.

            “Looks like you and Garnet are joining us for lunch, what’s the special occasion?” Jasper prodded.

            “Oh I’m just here for the show.”

            “What show?”

            “Garnet is going to try and ask Pearl out.”

            Jasper stopped.  “Wait…seriously?”

            “Seriously, and she’s super nervous too, so it’s going to be great.”

            “Garnet is never nervous.  Hell I’m going to watch too; this will be great.”

            “We gotta be discrete, don’t want the precious love birds to find out we know,” Amethyst said with flourish.

            The two rejoined their group and sat down to eat their lunches.  It wasn’t too much longer before they were doing their best to not burst out loud laughing as Garnet and Pearl had their conversation not quite out of ear shot.

 

            Mismatched irises checked over the selected outfit once again.  Purple skinny jeans, a studded belt, a random white graphic t-shirt, black high-top converse, and her favorite black leather jacket.  Garnet let out a deep breath and ruffled her afro once.

            _Keys…wallet…phone…watch…note._

The teen quietly walked into the master bedroom and set a small note on the bed.

            “Wish me luck! – Love, Garnet”

            She slipped on her sunglasses and headed out the front door.  After locking it behind her, Garnet plopped into her car and drove towards Pearl’s house.  The tall teenager checked the address as she stared up at the small two story house.  It was the same place Garnet had dropped Pearl off at after the homecoming dance over five months ago.  She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and begged her heart to stop beating so fast in her chest.

            _Remember to smile, it makes you seem more friendly._

Long legs quickly strode up to the door and solid knuckles rapped on it three times.  Ten seconds passed before the wooden barrier was opened, not that she was counting or anything.  Garnet was greeted by a familiar, cautious, face.  Her jaw locked in place and she stood still.

            “May I help you?” the man asked after a moment.

            _Speak!  This is Pearl’s father!_

“Hello, sir.”  She took a steadying breath. “I am Garnet.  I am here to pick up Pearl.”

            “Yes, I remember you, you came to Pearl’s dance recital.  Come on in,” he said with a neutral tone.

            She gave him a small nod as she stepped into the cozy home.

            “Is that Garnet?” The curly hair teenager heard coming from above.  Pearl’s lovely voice.  “I’ll be right down!”

            True to her word, Pearl glided down the stairs in less than a minute, accompanied by her mother.  Garnet couldn’t help the smile that found it’s way on to her face at the sight of her infatuation.  The athletic dancer wore a simple, pale yellow, sun dress that was pulled in at the waist with a sash.  Matching flats adorned her feet. 

            “Hi,” Pearl greeted, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

            “Howdy,” her low voice returned.

            “You’ve met my parents before,” she gestured to the two adults standing with them.  One was intensely examining her, while the other was discretely examining her with a smile.

            “Mr. and Mrs. Tancerz, nice to meet you again,” her monotone settled in despite her efforts to sound friendly.

            “I have a few questions for you Garnet Erutav,” Pearl’s father began.  “Where are you two going tonight?”

            “The Crab Shack off of Main St, and then to Pier 14.”

            “What will you be doing at Pier 14?”

            Garnet shrugged.  “There’s a couple random shops nearby, or we might try to catch a fish or two.”

            “And this Pier 14 is a well-lit and busy area?”

            “Yes, of course, it’s popular with tourists and locals.”

            “And you will be back no later than 11:00pm?”

            “Yes.”

            “Pearl is our only child and is very dear to us.  I expect you to treat her with the respect she deserves,” Mrs. Tancerz added.

            Pearl’s blush steadily grew on her face.

            “Yes, ma’am.”

            “If there is any trouble, contact us.  What is your phone number Garnet?”

            Garnet listed off her number to Pearl’s mother as the mother entered it into her phone.

            “Lastly, Garnet, why did you ask Pearl out?”

            “Dad!” Pearl objected.

            The darker teen looked over at her crush.  “I enjoy spending time with her and would like to get to know her better on a one-on-one basis.”

            Both parents held a silent conversation before nodding.

            “Our rules for dating are: one, let us know if the location changes; two, don’t arrive later than the set curfew unless there was an emergency; three, respect our daughter in all areas; four, no means no; five, have a fun time.  If any of those rules are broken, there will be consequences,” Mr. Tancerz finished.

            “Understood, sir.”

            “Good,” he nodded.  A warm smile spread across his face as he turned to face his daughter.  “Have a good time tonight and let us know if anything comes up.”

            “I will, don’t worry.”

            “Enjoy your date!” her mother added.

            Pearl gave both of her parents a quick hug before walking through the wooden door that Garnet had opened.  The sound of said door closing caused a wave of relief to wash over the taller teenager.  She let out a deep breath and rolled the tension out of her shoulders.

            “I’m so sorry, Garnet,” Pearl apologized as Garnet opened the car door for her.  “I told my parents not to get too intense, that was embarrassing.”

            Garnet sat down in the driver seat and smiled softly.  “They care, that’s a good thing.”

            “Yes, they do,” Pearl agreed.

            The taller teen maneuvered the car through traffic and towards their first destination for the evening.  It wasn’t long before the two of them were seated down and conversing as they waited for their food to arrive.  After dinner, Garnet took Pearl to Pier 14, which was only a couple of short blocks from the Crab Shack.  Warm hues decorated the sky as the sun slowly sank towards the horizon.  The wind picked up the salty ocean water and whipped Pearl’s dress all over the place.  They perused through the various shops looking at the various trinkets and curios for sale.  Garnet lead Pearl towards the end of a section of the pier so they could watch the sun finish it’s decent into the ocean.

            “Are you cold?” Garnet asked as Pearl shivered lightly in the wind.

            “On-only a-a little-le,” her mouth shook lightly.

            The curly haired teenager took off her jacket and placed it over quaking teen’s shoulders.

            “Th-thank you,” Pearl blushed as she curled into the warm object.  “I-I wasn’t prepared for it to get this cold.  Today had be-been s-such a warm day.  And w-well I guess you could just chalk it up to my lack of experience with la-large b-bodies of water and their typical weather patterns.”

            Garnet chuckled.  “You’ll get used to it,” her shirt danced in the wind along with the edges of her afro.

            They continued to stare out at the mesmerizing waves chopping up and down as the tide steadily rolled in.  Pearl's shivering slowly ebbed off now that she was wearing Garnet's leather jacket.  A blue eye took notice of Pearl’s hand resting on the wooden railing of the pier.  One steady nervous swallow later led to her placing her left hand just off to the side of Pearl’s hand.  Her fingers danced idly, tapping to the frantic rhythm of her heart beat.  Garnet called the red head’s attention to the side, pointing out a random boat coming in, while at the same time leaning over just enough that their shoulders touched and her hand partially slid over Pearl’s.  When she leaned back, she kept her hand there seeing what would happen.  The taller teen almost jumped out of her skin when the other snuck her hand a little more underneath her larger calloused hand.  Garnet took the positive signal and slowly wrapped her hand around the smaller one as it rotated upwards so their palms were pressed together.  Electricity shot up her arm and coursed through her entire body.  Garnet turned to look at Pearl, slowly letting out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding.  She was greeted with a shy smile and an equally blushing face coming from her date.  Garnet grinned and held onto the hand a little tighter.

            As the sky turned to a rich dark blue, the two teenagers turned to head back towards Garnet’s car, hand in hand.  Garnet glanced down at her watch 9:37pm.  Technically they still had over an hour more until Pearl’s curfew, but she wasn’t sure if her friend would want to stay out that long.  It was just their first date.

            “We still have a bit of time before your parents wanted you home.  This was all I really had planned; I don’t know if you wanted to do anything else or if you want to call it a night?” Garnet posed.

            Pearl considered the information and also looked at her watch.  “I do have a lot of homework and things to catch up on…not that I don’t want to spend any more time with you!”  the pale teen quickly said.  “If that’s all that you had planned, I’m ok with it ending a little earlier.”

            “No, no worries, it’s just a first date,” Garnet tried to dispel any worries of insult.

            Pearl gave Garnet a quizzical look.  Garnet felt her face heat up at her slip up.

            “Well, only if you would want to go out again with me, you’re not obligated to anything!”

            “I would love to go on another date with you,” Pearl gently smiled.

            Garnet felt her heart melt at Pearl’s response.  She loved the way Pearl’s smile shinned through her eyes and lit up her entire face.

            _She’s so beautiful…_

“Really?” the taller teen chuckled as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand.

            “Yes, though I don’t know when, but I would love to do this…or something else…again,” the pale teenager said as she waved her hand through the air.

            “Well we can figure out that later, shall I take you home then?”

            “Yes please, but let’s just take our time, no need to rush.”

            Garnet smirked and slowed her usually fast strides.  They moved at a leisurely pace, stepping off to the side to look at random things that momentarily caught their interest.  Once in the car, Garnet took the scenic route back towards Pearl’s house to show her a little more of the city that she may or may not have seen.  For an odd change, Garnet didn’t mind any of the traffic she hit.

            By 10:29pm the two were walking up to the wooden front door; hands once again grasped together.  They turned to face each other.

            “I had a great time, Garnet,” Pearl began.  “Thank you for asking me out.”

            A wide grin spread across the darker teenager’s face.  “You’re welcome.  I’ve been to each of those places a number of times, but this time it was much more enjoyable, it must have been your company that made the difference.”

            Pearl blushed and playfully pushed Garnet for her cheesy compliment.  A deep chuckle rumbled from her chest.  The two looked at each other once again, sharing a smile.  The shorter of the two was standing ever so slightly closer to Garnet.

            _What should I do?  Should I kiss her?  Does she want me to kiss her?  It’s only the first date…I’ve kissed on the first date before though…What about a hug?  No, too simple.  Kiss her!  But that’s too much, we just started holding hands.  Hand!  Kiss her hand!_

Garnet discretely glanced down at the delicate, yet strong, hand holding hers.

            “And thank you for letting me use your jacket, it’s very warm,” Pearl said as she detached their hands to take off the leather jacket and hand it back to Garnet.

            “Oh! Yeah…no problem,” Garnet returned as she put it on.

            _Shit, I lost her hand, now how am I going to do this smoothly?_

            The red head made a small movement forward for a hug that Garnet easily met her in the middle for.  They held it for a couple of long moments.  As they stepped back, the curly haired teen let her hand trail down Pearl’s arm so she could catch her hand.

            “Thank you for accompanying me tonight, Pearl.  I look forward to doing this again,” and with that she pulled the hand up to her full lips and placed a feather light kiss on Pearl’s knuckles.

            “Y-you’re welcome,” the other stammered through her blush.

            Garnet smiled and released the hand.  “Good night, Pearl,” she finished as she turned to walk towards her vehicle.

            “Good night, Garnet!”

            Once she turned away from her crush an unstoppable grin spread from one ear to the other.

            _Smooth, very smooth._

She almost skipped to her car, but was able to reign it in and get into the vehicle without being too obvious about her ecstatic mood.  Tonight had gone very well.  Once inside of her house she walked to the master bedroom and collected the note.

            “I had a great time, tonight.  You both would have loved to meet her.”

            Garnet walked back to the kitchen and threw away the note before getting ready for her day tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I now have a tumblr I guess...  
> as thetruthampere
> 
> because someone already had thetruthhertz, dang it.
> 
> Don't feel obligated to follow it. I will mostly use it to ask random questions, or post chapter updates, or gauge interest levels on upcoming stories.


	12. Fusion

^^^^^^

Amethyst explains further the rules of The Ember Colosseum as she and Jasper attend another night of fights.

^^^^^^

 

            Jasper plopped down into the cushioned stadium seat right next to Amethyst.  She picked up her drink and took a long sip.

            “Keep draining that and you’ll be back in the bathroom in no time,” the platinum blonde commented from the side.

            “Hey, I’m thirsty, plus those nachos where a little spicier than I had anticipated,” the buff teen countered.

            Amethyst snickered.  The next match began in the hexagonal ring.  Two scrappy fighters faced off, attacking with any means available.

            “So, are there any rules to this?”

            “Not many, groin shots, eye gouging, and hair pulling are illegal, but everything else is.  Head butting, foot stomping, kicking even if the opponent has their hands on the ground, 0 to 90 degree elbows…oh but intentional hits to the back of the head are illegal.”

            Jasper grimaced.  “You really have to be careful in there then don’t you?”

            “Yeah you do.  You can also use the fencing to help, like for gripping or jumping off of… also in some matches if there is a chair, or something similar, left in the ring it can be used.”

            “What?!  Someone could get really hurt.”

            “They know,” Amethyst shrugged.  “But that only tends to happen in the Iron Pit.”

            “What’s the Iron Pit?” Jasper raised an eyebrow.  Something about this place didn’t seem entirely legal.  She wasn’t sure if it was the smoke she smelled near the bathrooms, or the sketchy rules, or the shady bar in the back area that definitely wasn’t selling food or drinks.

            “It’s a specialty fight, usually the last one of the night.  Doesn’t happen every Saturday night, but when it does, they lower that cage above the platform and lock in the two competitors.  The match in the Iron Pit isn’t over until one of the fighters is unconscious.”

            “Even if they tap out or something?”

            “Doesn’t matter, they have to be unconscious, until then, the fight is still technically going,” Amethyst casually explained.  “I don’t usually stay to watch those fights, but sometimes I do.  They get real intense and bloody.”

            “Is there one tonight?”

            “No, there was one last week, but I didn’t feel like staying.”

            “Oh…”  Jasper focused her full attention on the fight, trying to absorb as much information as possible.  It was important to be take advantage of split second lapses of defense.  In those instances, the outcome of the match could be easily turned on its head or sealed into the ground.  Grapplers could be shaken out of their game by solid punches to the face, dangerous boxers could be usurped when their legs were taken away from them, wrestlers could be subdued if their back was controlled.

            “How did Pearl and Garnet’s date go last night?” the taller of the two asked as the two fighters left the ring.

            “Good, Garnet said they held hands and had a good time at the pier.  She sent me like five sunglasses smiley faces.  I swear, she’s got it bad.”

            Jasper laughed.  “Just you wait, she’ll start using those heart emoticons before too long.”

            “Ugh!” Amethyst groaned.  “She better not!  Otherwise I’ll block her.”

            They both laughed together.

            “I’m happy for her though, they could be really good for each other,” the track player added after a couple of seconds.

            The buff teenager silently agreed.  Cheers rang through the crowd as the next match was set up.  This time two boxers faced off against each other.  Jasper smiled as she could follow easier what techniques were being used in the fight.  The match ran long both fighters trading punches, but not really getting anywhere close to a knock-out or a submission.  When the digital time clock hit twenty minutes a loud buzzer sounded in the colosseum.  The referee stepped in between the two sweaty forms and grabbed each of their wrists.  Fans booed and shouted insults at the fighters who had been unable to finish their opponent.

            “What’s going on?” Jasper inquired.

            “Time ran out,” Amethyst explained, “There’s a time cap so they can keep everything on schedule.  At twenty minutes if the match hasn’t been stopped by the ref, the crowd gets to decide who wins.”

            “Really?  There’s no judges or anything?” The buff teenager was taken aback.

            “The crowd is their judge, if they don’t entertain the crowd, then they don’t win,” the platinum blonde shrugged.

            Jasper looked back down in the ring as the stands grew quiet.

            “Alright ladies and gentlemen, remember, cheer for the fighter that you think did their best in the fight.  The one with the loudest response will be the winner,” the announcer instructed.

            The referee lifted one fighter’s hand into the air and portions of the colosseum rose their voices in approval.  After ten seconds the ref put down the fighter’s hands, waited for it to become quiet again, then lifted the other’s up.  Jasper felt the air vibrate from the massive uproar coming from the stands for the second fighter.

            “And we clearly have our winner!  By crowd vote, Bloodhound has been deemed victorious!” the announcers voice rang through the structure.

            The taller of the two sat there and thought for a moment.  Not only did the fighters have to compete in a fairly rule less environment, but they needed to also please the crowd.  The title The Ember Colosseum seemed much more appropriate now.

 

            Long powerful legs quickly jumped to the side, moving out of the way as their opponent recklessly charged at them with a flurry of punches.  Gloved hands struck out landing solid hits on the other’s face and body.  The opponent tried to back away from the onslaught, but was caught against the cage.  They immediately pinned their opponent against the fence and drove their knee repeatedly into their sternum; violently shoving any air out that they might have recovered in their hasty retreat.

            The majority of the crowd cheered and chanted, “Fusion! Fusion! Fusion!” while the other portion of the masses tried to encourage the other fighter on “Fight back, Loch Ness!  You can beat ‘em!”.

            Fusion crashed their left fist against Loch Ness’s face, their face rippling with the force of the punch and sweat fanning out into the air as it was knocked from the skin.  Despite the hit, Loch Ness’s hand caught Fusion in the stomach, their eagerness had left the area undefended.  Fusion sucked in a quick breath and pushed passed the paralyzing feeling of getting hit hard in the liver.  They switched tactics and tackled Loch Ness from the side, forcing both of them to the floor of the ring.  Fusion swiftly took the mount position and rained punches and elbows from above.  In a matter of moments, they were being shoved off by the referee as Loch Ness lay on the platform unconscious.

            Cheers rang through The Ember Colosseum as Fusion stood up and raised their sweaty arms into the air.  The corners for both of the fighters were let in as the ref grabbed Fusion’s wrist and lifted it high.

            “And with a knock-out Fusion leaves the fight victorious!” the announcer’s voice rang from the speakers.

            “What a solid end to an exciting match, Loch Ness had some good hits in the beginning that may have spelled trouble for Fusion, but Fusion brushed them off and just kept on methodically delivering powerful combos.  In the end the Loch Ness was left sleeping with the fishes,” the other announcer added.

            “Loch Ness may have had the size and a debatable strength advantage, he was just worn down by Fusion’s speed and creativity.  It’s hard to catch that fighter off their guard.”

            “Very true.  Well that concludes our second to last fight of the night ladies and gentlemen, up next we have two fighters who have been hungering for a rematch since their last fight over a year ago.”

            Loch Ness, by that time, had regained consciousness and was being helped to his feet.  Fusion walked over and gave him a quick handshake, thanking him for the good match.  The words of the announcers were drowned out as Fusion then made their way towards the locker rooms built under the stadium seats.  Hands rained down begging for contact with the victor.  With a smirk, Fusion obliged and gave out a few high-fives.  They sighed in relief as they entered the darker hallways that lead towards their locker room; away from the bright lights surrounding the hexagonal platform.  The tension around their eyes and forehead relaxed.

Fusion walked through the barely lit room towards the sinks.  They pulled out their mouth guard and spat a wad of saliva and blood into the porcelain bowl.  In the mirror Fusion inspected their face for bruising, prodding at their nose in a couple of spots.  A few drops of blood from one of their nostrils landed in the sink.

            _Always the nose, but it doesn’t look like anything too obvious will show this time._

Satisfied with the condition of their face, Fusion inspected the other injuries they had sustained from the match.  Their gut still ached from the last hit, and there were welts on their muscular thighs from being kicked a number of times.  Fusion let out a noise of disgust as they noticed a couple of cuts amongst the welts.

            _Didn’t cut their toenails, better clean those out good._

With the inspection over, Fusion stood tall and stretched, arms reaching for the ceiling as a satisfied growl echoed in the empty room.  They began to remove the sweat soaked, yellow, dry-fit, sleeveless, rash guard when a voice came from the doorway.

            “Well done.”

            Fusion turned to face the tall figure purposefully walking towards them; the click of their boot’s three inch heels snapped through the cold air.

            “16 minutes and 43 seconds, only a few bad hits, and you subdued them in a display of power and fighting supremacy,” the woman continued.

            The fighter smiled, soaking in the praise.

            “You definitely earned your keep.” The woman brushed off a microscopic piece of lint off of her yellow business suit.  “It was very satisfying to see White Diamond shut her mouth as you beat her fighter into submission.”  The tall figure had short blonde hair that curved around her sharp jaw and subtlety pointed into the air at the top.  Underneath the yellow suit was a black blouse, while a simple gold chain that had one yellow diamond hung from her long neck.  The woman’s round lips were pulled into a tight line, their posture radiated power and confidence.

            “He was a good fighter, I just caught him by surprise.”

            Light hazel eyes glanced down at the rhombus emblem imprinted into the yellow rash guard at the center of the fighter’s chest.

            “You wear my symbol well, Garnet.”

            A low chuckle came from the fighter’s lips.  “You must be in a good mood tonight, Yellow Diamond, it’s not like you to be so complimenting.”

            “Do you think that your performance doesn’t deserve praise?” Yellow Diamond smirked as she coolly regarded the slightly shorter teenager.

            “No.  I’m just used to you not saying as much.”

            The business woman barked out a laugh.  “I guess that is true,” she mused.  “Well then don’t get used to it, Fusion,” Yellow Diamond said jokingly.

            “Yes, ma’am,” Garnet replied with a curt mock bow; her bun of curly thick hair not moving an inch.

            Yellow Diamond stepped closer and quickly looked her over, inspecting the damage.  “Dr. Maheswaran will be in shortly to check you over for any injuries.  After that you are free to shower, change, and either stay or go home.”

            Garnet nodded.  “When is my next match?”

            “In two weeks,” Yellow Diamond said as she walked out of the locker room.  “I’ll send you the time of your match once it’s been determined and a couple of details about who you’ll be facing.”

            The fighter turned back towards the sink with a nod and removed her top and her black and yellow, microfiber polyester, fighting shorts.  Like the top, the shorts had Yellow Diamond’s insignia.  It was imprinted onto the sides of the shorts, a few inches above the mobility slits in the fabric.  She was only wearing her bras and short spandex shorts when she heard Dr. Maheswaran enter the room.  The older woman was in her mid-forties, average height and build, and her dark brown hair had streaks of silver in it.  Deep brown eyes matched well with her darker skin tone.  Dr. Maheswaran wore her usual lab coat with a light blue blouse and kakis underneath.

            “Alright, let’s see the damage,” she began.  The doctor prodded Garnet here and there, had her perform a few movements, and asked a variety of questions.  “Well, it looks like you're in good health, nothing to worry about, though I don’t understand how you can see out there in the ring with your condition.  Those bright lights must make it hard to see.”

            “I just focus on who I’m fighting, and then take some medicine afterwards to deal with the headache,” Garnet simply shrugged.

            Dr. Maheswaran looked Garnet in the eye for a moment before sighing and shaking her head.  “You sure don’t let anything stop you.”

            “Never.”

           The doctor pulled up her medium sized medical supply bag.  "I'm going to clean out those cuts really quick, I don't want you getting infected from someone's lack of proper hygiene."  She motioned for Garnet to take a seat on the nearby bench.

           Garnet hissed lightly as the small cuts were cleaned out.  After applying some salve, the woman stood straight and looked Garnet over one last time.

            “Well you are clear to leave.  Get some good rest; apply ice and heat to any problem areas.  I hope you have a good night, and congratulations on your win.”

            “Thank you for your help,” Garnet nodded.  “I hope you have a good night as well.”

            Dr. Maheswaran smiled and left with a short thanks.  Garnet stepped into one of the showers and began to wash off the layer of sweat, and some blood, that had dried onto her skin.  It had been a good weekend for her, Friday she had had her second date with Pearl.  They had gone to a local arcade and tried a number of games before finding themselves at one of the pool tables.  Garnet was hopelessly out matched once Pearl figured out the physics and geometry behind the game.  The darker teen figured it was a good equalizer since she had previously dominated the pale teenager in a pattern mimicking game.  Afterwards they had gotten some frozen yogurt to share.  When Garnet had dropped Pearl off at the doorway she almost went in for a kiss, but the flickering of the porch light made her quickly back away.  Pearl had profusely apologized the morning after for her parents spying on them.  Garnet had just laughed it off.

            Her heart warmed at the recollection of her date with Pearl.  Being around the dancer one-on-one was enthralling.  The tall teenager dried herself off and changed into her street clothes.  With tonight’s win, yesterday’s date, and all of Sunday to rest and finish any homework, Garnet was content with how things were going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmmmm....  
> This could be interesting, no? What is Garnet doing working for Yellow Diamond?!


	13. Scheduling Matters

^^^^^^

Junior Prom is only weeks away; will the friends go as a group or may some of them pair off?

^^^^^^

 

            Soothing melodies filled the small dance room as the lines of dancers performed their moves in sync.  Pearl stood in the front and just offset from the middle.  The large formation was split in two as the dancers spun towards either the left or the right.  Two by two, one dancer from each side, starting from the back to the front, ran to the other side performing leaps and turns.  When Pearl’s time came she leaped high into the air, legs completing a complete split as her body arched back, arms curved upwards, and eyes closed.  She landed noiselessly on her toes before twirling around two times and performing a second smaller jump.  After a couple more minutes the music stopped and Sardonyx called out to the dancers.

            “Well done!  Now that’s quite the show we have to give.  I’m glad all of you have worked hard to memorize this routine.  We will go over it once more before time runs out for today’s class.”

            Sardonyx gave quick comments to each of the dancers on the little things she wanted them to improve on before the song was turned on yet again.  As the music flowed through Pearls ears, her body moved into the starting position and eased into action.

            “Now don’t forget that we only have four weeks before our school wide dance production!  Those of you with single performances, don’t forget to keep practicing those as well, next time I will have time set aside during class to critique your progress,” Sardonyx called after them as they exited the dance room and headed for the locker room.

            The pale teenager quickly changed into her school clothes and headed out towards the lunch area.  The end of the school year was approaching much faster than she had anticipated.  They were in the first week of April already, announcements for Junior Prom had been out for a couple of weeks, Amethyst and Lapis were in the middle of their respective sports, Peridot had a math competition coming up soon for her club, and Jasper and Garnet were keeping busy with their lives.  Her mind turned back to the upcoming dance, would it be like Homecoming where they all go as a group?  Or would some of them pair off?  Junior Prom was a big deal; typically, a couples dance.  The red head frowned, she highly doubted that she or Garnet were ready for something like that…then again, it would be nice to go together.  As she approached the spot that her friends usually claimed, Amethyst was already there with a big grin on her face.  Pearl regarded the spontaneous teen with caution.

            “Do I even want to know why you’re smiling like that?” Pearl started.

            “Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said with a tease, her grin becoming even bigger.

            Pearl sighed.  “Alright, just spit it out already, you’ve got me curious.”

            “I was looking through some of my old pictures the other day, found some great ones from the night we won the state championship.  Like this one here, Lapis photobombing Jasper’s muscle picture.”

            The dancer looked at the photo and laughed lightly.  It was amusing to see Lapis standing just behind the other teenager making a face and sticking her tongue out.  Amethyst quickly swiped through a number of other pictures.

            “But this one has to be one of my favorites,” she smirked as she stopped on one.

            Pearl leaned closer to inspect, her eyes nearly bulging out of her sockets when she immediately recognized the two sleeping figures in the picture.  It was a picture of her and Garnet cuddling on the couch.

            “Just how many people have you shown this to?” Pearl cautiously posed.

            “Only those who were with me when I took it.  Why?  Want me to send it to a few people?”

            “No!” Pearl shouted.  “I actually would prefer it if you would delete it,” she finished calmly.

            “What?!  No way, I’m keeping this forever.  You two were fair game for pictures the instant you fell asleep.  In fact, there’s someone I want to show it to right now.  HEY GARNET!” Amethyst shouted as she ran over towards the approaching tall figure.

            “Amethyst!” Pearl ran after her.  “Don’t, show, her.”

            The track athlete stuck her tongue out and turned the phone so Garnet could see.  Pearl watched in horror as the tall athlete bent down, inspected the content displayed on the device, and smiled?

            “Great picture isn’t it?”

            Garnet hummed in approval.  Pearl wanted to curl up and die from embarrassment.

            “You look cute, Pearl.”

            The dancer’s ears perked up and she looked up at Garnet a small blush creeping into her cheeks.  “Really?”

            The stoic teenager nodded.  “Mind sending me that picture Amethyst?  I’d like a copy.”

            “No problem G-man!”

            Pearl simply gave up on the situation and turned to go eat her lunch.  Moments later she felt Garnet sit down next to her.  A strong arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug.

            “It’s a good picture of us,” the low accented voice spoke into her ear.

            “I guess so,” Pearl conceded, relaxing into the embrace.

            “You sure you don’t want a copy too, P?  I just might be able to hook you up with one if you want,” Amethyst said with a playful drag.

            The red head shrugged.  “Why not?  Will you please send me the picture Amethyst?”

            “Can do!”

            Within seconds her phone chirped and the image appeared on her screen.  Pearl smiled in spite of her dislike for the candid photo.  “We look like death…”

            Garnet chuckled in her ear.  “Yes we do.”

 

            The lithe dancer bowed gratefully towards Ms. Quartz as she opened up the studio and let Pearl in.

            “Now, I only have time to let you practice for an hour and then I have to leave for the day,” the dance instructor informed as they walked in.

            “Thank you so much, I really appreciate you letting me come in to work on my school routines.”

            Rainbow Quartz waved it off.  “I was planning on coming in today for a little bit as well, so it was a stroke of good fortune.  Though don’t expect this to happen often.”

            “No, ma’am, I understand completely.”

            “Good, well you know how the audio equipment works, I’ll let you have this room, I will be in the one next door, alright?”

            “Thank you,” Pearl nodded.

            Her teacher stepped away with a wave of her fingers.  The dancer immediately walked over and hooked up her phone to the audio system.  In moments she had her favorite warm-up music playing as she stretched.  Soon Pearl was gliding across the polished wood floor as she went through each part of her solo performance.  She was particularly determined to do well on this one because she had to audition for it.  For the dance show there were only a certain number of time slots available.  After each class and all high performing seniors had their routines planned in, the remaining slots were up for bids for those who wanted to do group dances, solos, or partner dancing.  Of the three open slots for solo dances, Pearl won the audition for one of them.  Both of her parents had been ecstatic once she had told them the good news.

            Her muscles strained as she proceeded through the remaining movements of her dance.  As the melody slowly faded, her body relaxed and let out a deep breath.  Pearl laid down on the floor for a moment, letting her racing heart calm down.

            “Pearl?” a light knock echoed on the wall of the dance room a couple minutes later.

            “Yes, Ms. Quartz?”

            “Are you done in here?  It’s time for me to head out.”

            “Yes I am,” Pearl quickly stated as she got to her feet and gathered her belongings.  “I’m sorry for taking so long.”

            “No worries, I just finished as well.”  Rainbow Quartz shrugged off.  “Any plans for a beautiful Saturday like today?”

            “I do have some plans, actually,” Pearl lightly blushed.

            “Oh?  And what is that?”

            “I have a date with a friend of mine, it’s our third one.”

            “Well!  Now isn’t that exciting,” Rainbow Quartz smiled as they walked to their cars.  “I hope you have a good time on your date.”

            “Thank you,” Pearl smiled.  “And thank you for letting me come in and practice.”

            “You’re welcome,” the woman nodded as she waved and drove off.

            Pearl drove home and got ready for her date with Garnet.  Today they were getting lunch together.  Dinner was out of the question because her parents had planned a family activity for the night.  After her shower she quickly got dressed and checked the time on her watch.

            [11:47]

            She had a few minutes to rest before Garnet would arrive to pick her up.  The red head leaned into the couch and closed her eyes for a moment.  Her mind wandered, in all reality she had only been in this new house for eight months.  It was hard to grasp, it felt like she had been there forever.  Even harder to grasp was that she was currently going on her third date with the same teenager that had advised her to take a different, safer, route home.  Time was a funny thing, what would her friends back home think of her now?  Pearl let out a deep breath, she hadn’t really tried to stay in contact with any of them outside of random texting conversations that were slowly becoming less frequent.  A small pang of guilt ran through her gut.  She wasn’t being a really good friend to her old friends, giving up on them the instant she was taken in and accepted by her new friends?  Then again, none of them had expressed any real sorrow for her absence, they seemed to be getting along just fine without her.

            The firm rap of knuckles against wood brought her back from the grey matter of her mind.  Pearl quickly stood up and walked to the door, arriving the same time that her mother opened it.  The pale teenager smiled as she looked at the tall sturdy figure standing in her doorway.  The two of them left hand in hand with a short exchange of words with her mom.  Pearl laughed as Garnet made a dry joke about making it through the interrogation easily this time.  Warm sunlight glistened off of the darker teen's sunglasses.  Pearl’s old friends would have laughed if she had told them who she was going out on dates with.  She had always been fond of tall strong women, it was just her luck that this one felt the same way about her.

            After lunch the two walked around a local baseball park, conversing and enjoying the relatively warm day.  Winter was finally giving way to spring.

            “Tell me about them,” Pearl broke the lull in their conversation.

            Garnet looked down at her, her head tilted slightly in confusion.

            “Your mothers, if that’s not uncomfortable for you to talk about,” the pale teen added.

            The taller smiled and faced straight ahead.  “Sapphire was a really good singer, she would sing me to sleep every night, especially whenever I had trouble sleeping.  Ruby was a lively story teller, gestures, facial expressions, sound effects, all of it was implemented and improvised whenever she would recount an adventure or make one up.  I never had trouble sleeping with their help, well…sometimes Ruby’s stories would wind me up instead of lulling me to sleep.  We would play together acting out the events from her story, chasing each other around, etc.  Sapphire would then come in and gently scold us for procrastinating our bed times.  There were a number of occasions where we tried to sneak up on my mum Sapphire, but she always caught us.”  Garnet chuckled.  “I could never pull a fast one over her, never really got away with much.”

            “They sound like quite the pair,” Pearl smiled.

            Garnet hummed in agreement.

            “I would have liked to meet them.”

            “Oh, I’m not so sure about that…” Garnet said with a light tease.

            “Why?” the red head glanced at her date.

            “They would have put you through a real interrogation, they were a bit protective of me.”

            “I’m sure I could have handled it, I’ve been through the good cop, bad cop routine before.”

            “Really?” Garnet smirked.  “Well I’m not sure which one would’ve been the good cop or the bad cop…though do tell about your experience with the good cop, bad cop routine.”

            “What? Oh no, there’s really not much to tell…” Pearl tried to brush off.

            “Please?” Garnet asked as she leaned closer to Pearl, bumping their shoulders together.

            “Ah well…on one of the first dates I went on with another girl, she hadn’t told her parents that she would be going out with another girl.  Needless to say one parent was supportive of this coming out, while the other was less so.”

            The taller teenager frowned and hummed seriously.

            “While I didn’t really appreciate getting thrown into that situation, later down the road she was able to talk things out with her parents and things worked out in the end.  In all honestly I just wished she had given me a little heads up.  A little consideration before I got caught in the middle.”

            “I’ll keep that in mind,” Garnet noted.

            Pearl raised an eyebrow at her.  “Don’t tell me your guardian doesn’t know you’re into women,” she deadpanned.

            “Oh, she knows,” the curly haired teen smirked.

            Then without warning Garnet leaned in and pressed a feather light kiss on Pearl’s lips.  The thin dancer slightly pulled back at the surprising contact between the two of them.  The other quickly stood back up and began to retreat.

            “Sorry, I-”

            Before Garnet could finish, Pearl stood on her toes and pulled Garnet in for a kiss, her thin lips pushing into the taller teenager’s fuller lips.  After a couple of seconds, she leaned back onto her heels.  Garnet stood completely still, her mouth slightly parted as a blush formed on her cheeks.  The mouth slowly shifted from hanging open to a wide grin.  Strong arms quickly drew Pearl in as those thick lips were pressed against hers once again.  Light blue eyes slowly closed as she wrapped her arms around Garnet’s neck.  The curly haired teen broke the simple kiss and pressed their foreheads together; a joyous deep laugh escaping her lungs.  The red head let out a surprised laugh as she was easily lifted into the air.

            “Sorry,” Garnet smiled as she brought her back down.

            Pearl just smiled and tipped up on her toes to briefly kiss her yet again, her left hand cupping the dark teenager’s sharp jaw.  When she backed away and looked up into Garnet’s reflective sunglasses she smiled softly and let her own chuckle join the other’s.  The two continued walking, hands shifting from simple hand holding to intertwining their fingers.

            “Pearl?”

            “Hm?”

            “I like you,” Garnet stated with a smile.

            Pearl blushed at the confession.  “I like you too, Garnet.”

 

            The light eyed teenager sighed and stared off into the distance.  Next to her Jasper, Lapis, Amethyst, Peridot, and the cool kids were all in a discussion about what the plan for Junior Prom was going to be.  Ideas on a potential limo, group photos, where to sit, whose house to meet at, were all being thrown around.  Junior Prom was on the last weekend of April, thus giving the teens only three weeks to quickly sort everything out.  It was Monday and the pale teenager already felt like it was going to be a long week.  Pearl’s eyes lit up as she spotted Garnet making her way towards the group.

            “Hey G-man!” Amethyst waved.  “About time you got here, we’re trying to decide on what to do for Junior Prom.  Got any ideas?”

            Garnet looked around at everyone.  “What is everyone’s idea so far?”

            “We were thinking of going as a group like Homecoming, we weren’t sure if any of us were wanting to go as a pair and buy tickets accordingly,” Lapis supplied.

            “Is anyone planning on going together?” Garnet asked slightly confused.

            “Weelll, we weren’t sure about you and Pearl, considering you two have been going on dates…” Jasper plainly stated.

            “Oh…” the dark teenager’s face heated up.  She looked away from everyone.  “I don’t know if I’m working that night or not, actually.”

            “What?!” Amethyst burst out.  “We’ve known about this dance for a couple of weeks and you have yet to ask your manager if you’re working on not?”

            “I’ve been busy ok?” the darker teen grumbled.

            “You might want to figure that out soon so you and Pearl and decide if you want to go together or not,” Peridot commented from the side.

            Pearl frowned.

_Would I want to go to Junior Prom with Garnet?  We’ve just kissed, and sure we both know we like each other…Does it really matter?  As long as I get to dance and spend time with her, I would be happy even if we didn’t go as an official “couple”.  Then again, it would be kind of romantic to go together…_

            “If not, most of us were planning on going as a big group like before,” Lapis said.  “It worked well and everyone had fun.”

            Garnet nodded in understanding, but didn’t say anything else.  The lunchtime conversation soon turned from Junior Prom and onto other random topics.  Pearl didn’t try to really push any conversation from her crush, sensing that she needed some space to think.  As they walked towards their next class hand in hand, the taller teenager spoke up.

            “I’m sorry I didn’t even think about the dance, or if we would go together or not.  I would really enjoy going as your date, but…” she trailed off.

            “I would like to go with you as well, I enjoyed the time we had together at Homecoming.  However, let’s just wait until you know if you can make it before we make too many plans, ok?” Pearl offered.

            Garnet glanced down at her and gave her an appreciative smile.  They stopped at Pearl’s class and the curly haired teen said good bye as she gave the dancer’s hand a squeeze.

 

            Garnet- [Will I be working the last weekend of April?]

            Yellow Diamond- [Yes.  Why are you asking so early?]

            Garnet- [There’s a dance that night, Junior Prom.  Is there a way to change the date of that fight?]

            Yellow Diamond- [No.  It can’t be rescheduled.]

            Garnet- [Is there any way it can be?  I would really like to go to the dance, it’s a big thing for junior year.]

            Yellow Diamond- [I thought you were committed to fighting for me.  I gave you time off for basketball like we agreed, and now you want to back out of a fight for some dance?]

            Garnet- [No, I am committed to this, I just was seeing if there was potential that the fight could be moved.]

            Yellow Diamond- [It cannot.  Show me your commitment Garnet, prove to me that trivial things cannot deter you from taking care of your family.]

            Garnet- [I will prove to you that I am.  I will be there for the fight and I will win.]

            Yellow Diamond- [I’m glad to hear that.  I will see you this Saturday for your fight.]

            Garnet- [Yes, Yellow Diamond.]

 

            Like usual, the red headed teenager sat at her desk checking over her math homework before she would be turning it in during class.  The chair next to her squeaked lightly as her typical morning company sat down heavily.  The scent of freshly washed hair wafted into her nostrils.  She turned to smile at the individual.  A small smile was returned.  They sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

            “I can’t go to the dance.” Garnet dully announced.  “I have work that night, and I won’t be able to switch shifts or anything.”

            “Oh,” Pearl felt her shoulders fall.  “That’s ok,” she put on a smile.  “I wasn’t super interested in going anyway.”

            Garnet regarded her with a frown.  “Just because I’m not going doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t either.”

            “I know,” Pearl blushed.  “I just don’t want you to think you’re being left out.  We could do something else together before and or after your shift.”

            The darker teenager smiled and put her hand over Pearl’s.  “I appreciate the thought, but I think you should go if you want to.  You’d miss all of the fun times and memories with all of your other friends if you didn’t go.”

            Pearl looked down at their intertwined hands.  “I’d miss you though…”

            “We can do something after if you go, and if you don’t go, then I’d be more than willing to spend time with you as well.  It’s your choice Pearl, do what you want.”

            The pale teenager looked up at Garnet’s smiling face.  “Thank you, I’ll think it over and make my decision by lunch.”

            “You can take as much time as you need to decide,” Garnet shrugged.

            “I know, but the group wants to buy their tickets either today or tomorrow before all of the tables are taken up.  So it would be for the best that we have a final head count as soon as possible.”

            The taller teen nodded in understanding.  A few hours later both Garnet and Pearl let their group know of their decisions on attending the dance.  Garnet explained that she had work and would not be able to come.  Pearl announced that she would be attending the dance and was looking forward to a fun night with her friends.  In the end, Jasper, Lapis, Peridot, Amethyst, Pearl, Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream would all be attending Junior Prom together as a group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	14. Strength in Numbers

^^^^^^

The tradition continues as the group of friends attend a track event together and possibly a night of fights.

^^^^^^

 

            “No, you need to redo question 34.b. you got it wrong,” Peridot commented as she quickly graded Laips’s homework.  The math whiz adjusted her glasses and continued to scan over her friend’s work.  “And, 34.f….35.d.”

            “Any others you want to add to the list?” Lapis growled.  It had taken nearly four hours to work through the “five” math problems for homework.  Never mind that each problem had about five to seven sub problems.

            Peridot stared at her for a moment before looking back down.  “No, just those three.  It shouldn’t take you long to find your errors and correct them.  I would approximate twenty minutes if you put forth maximum concentration.”

            “Thanks…” the swimmer grimaced as she pulled the sheet away and began to go over the first incorrect problem.

            A bowl of sugar snap peas was placed in front of the two.

            “Brain food, I can make something more substantial if you want,” Garnet said as she sat down next to Pearl.

            Pearl absentmindedly grabbed one and chewed on it as she dusted the eraser scum off of her homework.

            “We can just order something; you don’t need to cook for us.  We’re already crashing at your place for study group anyway,” Lapis commented.

            Garnet shrugged.  “I’ll be cooking anyways, it won’t be hard to share.”

            “Well be careful with Lazuli, she’ll eat everything,” Peridot quipped, not looking up from Garnet’s paper in front of her.  “I’m just going to circle all of the problems you got wrong, there’s a considerable number of them.”

            The dark skinned teen grimaced.  “I think I’ll just start dinner, you guys let me know when you’re ready to go over the study guide.”

            All three of the guests made noises of agreement.  Within minutes the small house was filled with the scent of sizzling peppers and onions.  Pearl, Peridot, and Lapis talked amongst themselves as they worked together to finish their calculus homework.  As the food was finished they cleared the table and helped to set out plates and the fixings for the fajitas.  Pearl pursed her lips in thought as she noticed the main filler was about 50% steak and 50% onions and peppers.  She would have to pick the steak out.  A smaller bowl was placed in front of her that contained only the caramelized onions and peppers with the spices used on the main dish.  Pearl looked up at Garnet, smiling broadly.  The taller teenager simply smirked and sat down next to her.  Any fragments of conversation were drowned out as the four hungry students dug into the fresh meal.

            After dinner, the teenagers worked on and discussed the various calculus problems contained in the study guide.  They had an in-class exam next week, and the AP exam was in a month.  The pressure was slowly building.  Close to ten o’clock at night the group called it quits.  It was only a Thursday night and they had been at Garnet’s house for the past four hours.  Pearl had finished almost all of her homework in that time frame, including the work from her other classes.  Lapis eventually corrected her math mistakes and got a portion of her other work taken care of.  Peridot was on top of things as always, but her computer program was giving her issues once again.  Throughout the study session it was common to hear the small teenager muttering angrily at her laptop screen.  Garnet was lucky enough to make it through her calculus homework with help from Pearl and Peridot.

            All four of them walked out into the cool air towards the cars parked in front of the house.

            “Amethyst has a track invitational on Saturday, apparently it’s one run by our school annually,” Lapis began.  “She extended the offer to have us come and watch her throw.  Are any of you interested?”

            “What time is it?” Pearl asked.

            “It’s pretty much all day, she said she will be doing shot put in the morning, and discus in the afternoon.  She recommended sunscreen and lots of water.  Saturday is going to be a hot day.”

            “Are there any specifics on the times she is throwing? Morning and afternoon are fairly broad time frames,” Peridot crossed her arms over her chest.

            Lapis shrugged.  “She probably doesn’t know herself.  From what she’s explained they will throw in heats and depending on who shows up and how long it takes will determine the time she actually throws.”

            “Amethyst will be letting me know when the heat before her is warming up so I can come watch,” Garnet spoke up, “I can forward the information to you guys.”

            “That’s an advantageous strategy you have set up with her,” Peridot mused.  “I will accept your offer for this valued information.”

            The darker teenager nodded.

            “I haven’t decided if I want to stay the whole day yet or not, so let me know as well,” Lapis smiled.  “Thanks again for letting us use your place Garnet.  Next time we can have it at my house like usual,” Lapis finished.

            “See you tomorrow in math you clods,” Peridot waved as she and Lapis walked off and got into Peridot’s minivan.

            Garnet simply waved.  Once the minivan had disappeared from sight Pearl glanced up at her close friend.  The athletic teenager seemed deep in thought.

            “Is everything alright?  You’ve been unusually quiet tonight,” Pearl started.

            “Just thinking about work, that’s all.”

            “Your security job?”

            Garnet nodded.

            “Well, I’m sure everything will go well, it’s not too dangerous is it?”

            The taller looked down and chuckled softly.  “It can be, but not anything that’ll get out of control.”

            Pearl frowned.  Garnet’s words were not comforting.  “Have you ever gotten hurt?”

            “Only bumps and bruises, nothing to worry about, Pearl,” the darker teen tried to reassure her.  “I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now, don’t worry.”

            The dancer had several thoughts and opinions she wanted to share about Garnet’s on call job, but she kept them to herself.

_Garnet knows what she’s doing, she’s done this before, Pearl.  No need to get all caught up about it.  It’s not like I’m her girlfriend, well…yet…maybe…hopefully?  If anything happened, I’m sure Garnet would go to her guardian anyways._

            “See you tomorrow before calculus?” Garnet smiled.

            “Yes,” Pearl returned.

            They leaned together for a quick kiss on the lips before Pearl left in her car.

 

            Saturday was indeed going to be hot.  At 9:00am Pearl could already feel the sun gearing up to fry them in just a short couple of hours.  She put her hand up to block the bright globe in the sky as she looked around the field for her tan, wild friend.

            “YO, P!”

            The dancer turned towards the familiar voice.  Beneath a portable pop-up tent waved the sought for friend.  Clad in a red tank top and short red running shorts, proudly bearing the name and logos of their school, Amethyst looked ready to combat the oncoming heat.

            “Good morning, Amethyst,” Pearl smiled as she approached the covering.

            “Good morning to you too, glad you decided to come!”

            “Of course!” Pearl blushed slightly.  “I’ve never been to a track meet before, what are you supposed to do?”

            “Weeelllll, since it’s an all-day event there will be stuff going on all around you.  Usually some running event is on the track, on the inside or areas around it you can find the field events.  Whenever I have down time at a meet I like to wander around and cheer people on, or take a nap in the sun.  But today is a little different because our team is in charge of the whole invitational.  So I got a job to do today.”

            “Oh…what is your job?”

            “For men’s varsity shot put I am one of the markers for the heats.  So basically I stick metal tags in the ground where the ball lands.”

            “That sounds dangerous, wouldn’t you get hit?”

            “Nah, only if you’re not watching the ring or messing around.  Oh, and you should keep your eyes on the ring too whenever you’re near one.  They don’t always land in the zones,” Amethyst finished with a thumbs up.

            Pearl frowned slightly.  “Thank you for the warning, I’ll make sure to keep my eye on the ball.”

            “And disc.”

            “And disc.”

            “And javelin.”

            “And javelin.”

            “And hammer.”

            “And ha- hammer?” Pearl raised an eyebrow at the last one. “Just how many things are being thrown here?!  And why do people throw hammers?”

            Amethyst let out a hearty laugh.  “A hammer is like a shot put but bigger and on a long wire with a handle.  You spin around with it to throw it.  But no, you won’t have to worry about those last two, I’m just messing with you P,” the tan athlete grinned.

            The exasperated dancer sighed and gave her friend a half angry glare.  It wasn’t long before the track area became busy with constant events being announced and ran.  Pearl stayed with Amethyst and cheered on those from their school and other random competitors.  She jumped the first time she heard the gun pop to signal the start of one of the races, but soon became accustomed to the sound.  Peridot showed up a couple hours after her and tagged along asking Amethyst a million questions about the best methods and forms for throwing the metal objects farther.  This eventually ended up with both Peridot and Pearl trying out throwing a discus and shot put on a practice ring that wasn’t being used at the time.  Pearl decided by the end of her only slightly successful attempts that maybe the sport wasn’t for her.  Every once and a while the jarring clang of metal hitting metal followed by a loud “heads up!” would come from the nearby discus ring.  Personally Pearl was very glad they had a net around the majority of the ring.

            Lapis, Jasper, and Garnet all showed up a little before Amethyst was to compete in shot put.  Per the athlete’s request, they had smuggled in lunch supplies for the group.  Lapis had kept watch while Jasper tossed the large cooler over the fence into Garnet’s waiting hands.  They had duct taped the lid shut to ensure nothing spilled if it’s brief flight went awry.  Around 11am Amethyst threw in the second to last heat for women’s varsity shot put.  Garnet assisted with warming Amethyst up through stretches and returning the shot put.  It was a successful event for the track and field athlete, her farthest throw was 32’ 10.75”.  They all congratulated her and then sat back to a cold lunch while they watched the last heat go.  Pearl was amazed to see the teenagers in that heat throw the ball 36’, 38’, and one threw farther than 41’.

            Luckily Amethyst’s second event, women’s varsity discus, was right after so there wasn’t as much waiting around before they got to cheer her on again.  With a solid final throw of 104’ and 7.50”, Amethyst was in an excellent mood.

            “Hey,” Jasper directed towards Amethyst as their group chilled for a few minutes, finishing off the last off the cool water and food.  “Would you be up to going to the fights tonight?”

            Amethyst shot a quick glance at Garnet, who just stared back with a blank expression.  “Sure, it’ll be nice to cool off with some good matches.  Though I don’t know when coach will let me leave, it might not be until 7.”

            “That’s cool, it doesn’t start until 8 right?”

            “Yeah, we might miss a little of the first, but we’ll catch everything else.”

            “There’s a pit fight tonight,” Garnet stated.

            Jasper turned and raised an eyebrow at her.  “How do you know the schedule?”

            “What is everyone talking about?” Pearl asked Lapis and Peridot.  “I feel like I’m missing something.”

            “Oh, there’s these MMA fights that Jasper and Amethyst like to go to on Saturday nights, says they’re really fun to watch.”

            “And educational!” Jasper added loudly.

            “Right,” Lapis rolled her eyes.

            “I’m curious about these fights,” Peridot admitted.  “What would one need to do in order to accompany you two to this event?”

            “Guts and permission from your parents to hang out with us!” Amethyst smirked.

            “While I may be able to acquire permission, I am lacking in guts,” the short-haired blonde stated as she looked down at her flat stomach.  “Though I’m sure you two will more than make up for my lack of guts.”

            “HEY!” Jasper growled.

            “She doesn’t mean guts guts,” Amethyst put a hand on Jasper’s arm to stop a potential confrontation.  “She mean’s guts guts,” she finished flexing her solid arms to demonstrate.

            “Oh… well then hell yeah!  We got guts to spare for you, Peri.  And the rest of you too if you want to come,” she directed to Pearl, Lapis, and Garnet.  “If that’s ok with you Amethyst…”

            “You know the deal,” Amethyst smiled and shrugged.

            The swimmer snorted.  “Why not?  Do you two have some guts to spare for me?”

            “You betcha!”

            Pearl thought on it for a moment as they all turned to look at her.  “I haven’t finished all of my homework yet, and I’m not sure how my parents would feel about me going to watch something like that.”

            Everyone’s shoulders fell slightly.

            “But…I could finish it tomorrow, and I’m sure I can persuade them to let me go.  So, yes, I would like to borrow some guts as well,” Pearl finished with a nervous smile.

            “Yes!” Jasper pumped her fist.  “Three for three!  Garnet?”

            The stoic teen regarded them from the shady spot she had been sitting in.  “I have work.”

            “Aww, what?” the buff teenager groaned.  “When’s your shift?  Maybe you can come before or after.”

            “I won’t be able to come.”

            “C’mon you gotta at least try.”

            Garnet simply looked away.

            “Hey, now let’s not mess with G-man’s work, she takes it very seriously.  Besides, she can join us another time, right?” Amethyst defused.

            Garnet didn’t really say anything.  The conversation moved on from that point as they planned when to meet up and what to bring/wear.  After a couple of minutes Pearl moved to sit next to Garnet, nudging her a little with her shoulder.  The other simply bumped her back.  It wasn’t long before Garnet left along with Lapis and Peridot.  Pearl left soon after so that she could take a break from the sun and get ready for the event.  Amethyst didn’t really give her many details about the place so it was hard to explain to her parents what she was going to.  In the end, due to the lack of information, Pearl’s parents said that they would rather their group did something else that night or that Pearl stayed home.  She texted all of her friends to let them know.  Loud objections came from Amethyst and Jasper, while Garnet simply stated that “It was probably for the best.”.  Lapis and Peridot simply shrugged off the fact and wished her good luck with her homework.

            The dancer ran her towel through her short red hair once again.  A cool shower felt very good after a long day in the sun.  Before she started on her homework she sent a quick message to Garnet.

            Pearl- [Good luck at work tonight!]

            Garnet- [Thanks B)]

            Pearl smiled.  Even just texting Garnet brightened her mood.  In all honesty she was somewhat relieved she wasn’t allowed to go.  The brief descriptions that Jasper had given the group of the place didn’t sit easily in her stomach.  Pearl enjoyed watching contests of skill, strength, and stamina, but she wasn’t sure about watching it in the form of a fight.  True she had never seen more than a couple of clips while flipping through channels or seeing a fight on a passing screen, so technically she couldn’t form a complete opinion until she had at least seen one full fight.  One day she would get the chance to see a fight and when that time came she would decide what she thought of them.

 

            “I’m not going down there!” a shrill voice cut through the night.

            Jasper looked around hoping that the outburst didn’t turn too many heads.

            “You clods are hopping crazy!” Peridot continued.  “If I have a death wish maybe, but I don’t want to die tonight.”

            “You’re not going to get hurt,” Amethyst sighed as she rested a hand on her hip.  “If Jasper and I can walk down then so can you.”

            “There’s a _huge_ difference between me and you two!  I look like easy pickings!” the shortest screeched.

            “Which is why both you and Lapis will be walking between Amethyst and I,” Jasper growled.  “We’ll move like a group and if anyone tries to go down the middle we just all move out of their way.  And if they get close I’ll punch them in the face.”

            Lapis glanced down the dimly lit street.  Her face about as enthusiastic as a teenager being told they could no longer sleep in on the weekends.  “Are you sure that will work?”

            “Look, we move quickly as a unit, act confident, and keep our eyes peeled and we’ll get there all in one piece,” Amethyst explained yet again.

            “This _is_ part of the Embers Way district,” Lapis stated.

            “We know,” Jasper pinched the bridge of her nose.  “But trust us, we won’t let anything hurt you.”

            Lapis glanced down at Peridot.  “Well?”

            “I claim walking next to Jasper,” she said as she latched onto one of the muscular teen’s arms.

            “Then I get to walk next to Amethyst,” the swimmer gave a small smile to her friend.

            “Alright, let’s go!” Amethyst smiled.

            The group of four got into formation and began their decent into the Embers Way district.  Lapis walked with disinterest next to Amethyst’s cool steps.  Peridot tried to muster the same confidence, but one could easily see her slightly trembling frame.  A large hand rested on her shoulder for a brief moment.  The glasses wearing teen looked up to see Jasper giving her a reassuring smile.  After twenty minutes of walking they passed by the man guarding the familiar door and began their decent into The Ember Colosseum.  The two newcomers were awed by the impressive sight that greeted them once they passed through the second set of steel doors.  Jasper chuckled to herself as she was reminded of her first time here.  As they were seated and orders were taken, Amethyst was bombarded with questions on why and how they got the treatment they did.  The long haired platinum blonde simply shrugged and stated that she had a good connection with someone high up.  Lapis was satisfied with the vague answer while Peridot demanded more information.  Amethyst brushed her off until she was distracted by the next fight that had begun.

            It was an entertaining night worth of fights.  The announcers informed the mass of people that the next match would be a surprise and would take place in the Iron Pit.

            “Alright all of you bums!” Amethyst stood up.  “Time for us to head out.  Best to get out of here before the last match and not get caught in the mass exodus.”

            “What?!” Jasper and Peridot protested.

            Lapis shrugged, stood up, then stretched lightly.

            “Yup, you kids time to go home, we’re not going to want to watch this one,” Amethyst crossed her arms and leveled the protesting teens with a scolding expression.

            “But I’ve wanted to see an Iron Pit fight,” Jasper continued.

            “Nope, no negotiating, Garnet says it won’t be a good one to watch, says it will be boring as hell.”

            “How can she know that?!”

            “It’s G-man, you don’t argue with her,” Amethyst finalized as she began to shoo them out of their seats.

            The two resisting teens complied and the group left together as the lights were beginning to dim in preparation for the final match of the night.  Amethyst stole one last glance over her shoulder before the set of metal doors cut off her vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to post the next chapter as well, but I don't want to eat through my chapter buffer I have in case I have writers block. But if I get some good writing done this week/weekend, I might post chapter 15 sooner.


	15. Champion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright I am posting this chapter a little early. You can decide if that is a good thing or not.
> 
> Warning: This chapter will have more intense action scenes. Not enough to merit an "M" in my opinion, but definitely more intense than before.

^^^^^^

What is a Champion?

^^^^^^

 

            “Ladies and Gentlemen we have a special event for you tonight,” the first announcer began as the second to last match ended and the iron cage was being locked into place.  “One of your favorite fighters, Fusion, will be going through what we are going to call the Iron Gauntlet.”

            “And what is this Iron Gauntlet you say?” the second broke in.  “Simple.  Fusion has five fighters lined up to fight.  The same Iron Pit rules apply, only once the fighter is unconscious will they be removed from the match.  Now, it will start off with Fusion against one fighter, but every two minutes another fighter will be let into the Iron Pit until all five have been released in.  All Fusion has to do is knock out each opponent within the two-minute timeframe she has and she won’t have to worry about getting double teamed.”

            “On the flip side, the five only need to work together to render Fusion unconscious and the match will be over.  To make this a little more even, the five fighters all hail from the lower ring.”

            “It should be an easy match for Fusion, especially since she is ranked in the top five of the middle ring.”

            “We shall see, while it’s possible to win a fight in two minutes, it’s a lot harder to do it five times in a row, no matter how easy your opponent is.”

            “That is true, all that needs to be done is for one of the early fighters to make their match run a little long and they will get a fresh pair of gloves as backup,” the second agreed.

            “In just five short minutes the match will begin!  Make sure to place all of your bets before then if you want to cash in on the victory!”

 

            Garnet chewed on her mouth guard a couple of times and shook out her fingerless gloved hands.  Sweat was already running down her back between her shoulder blades.  She had been aware of this match since Yellow Diamond had informed her over a week ago, but hearing the details over the speakers was slightly nerve-wracking.  Different colored irises closed for a moment, savoring the darkness before they would be forced into the harsh platform light without any protection.  Garnet gritted her teeth as her music began to play.  Once again she took off in a jog towards the caged platform.  Once the quick inspection was completed, Garnet was allowed into the cage.  The fighter then moved through her usual routine.  After she was settled in, she raised her fists into the air encouraging the fans screaming her name.  Eyes quickly scanned the stands for the two attendees she always looked for.  Maybe she would be able to see them this time.

            “Remember!” her corner shouted at her.  “Two minutes, don’t let them run away from you, go in and finish each one off quickly.  If you do it under two minutes, you’ll get to rest.”

            Fusion nodded, her stiff bun moving with her head.  She turned and faced the first fighter of the night.

            “Fusion’s first opponent is Bone Crusher!”

            As the ref signaled the start of the match, Fusion aggressively advanced on her opponent.  It took only a few seconds to map out his tactic.  He would dart in throw a punch or two and then backpedal quickly to the other side of the ring.  He was trying to waste time.  Fusion set her jaw and quickly worked Bone Crusher towards a corner.  When he tried to cut a corner and avoid her, she lunged and luckily caught his ankles with her long arms.  He tried to wiggle out of her grasp, but Fusion held fast and quickly turned the match into a ground game as she claimed his side.  One minute and twenty seconds had already passed.  Fusion immediately began to throw punches and elbows and worked to the mount position.  One minute forty seconds.  He was defending his face well from where she was sitting on his chest, she needed a way to cut off the blood supply to his brain.  She wrapped her legs behind him with one of his arms inside the triangle she formed around his neck.  With all her strength she closed the space and cut off his blood supply with her legs and his own arm.  Out of the corner of her eye she could see her next opponent being let in and charging towards her.  Fusion was not going to let go of this one.  She blocked the first kick that went for her head.  The referee pushed her away from Bone Crusher who had finally passed out.

            Fusion was on her feet blocking and regaining her bearings instantly.

            “With a knock out by triangle choke, Bone Crusher has been removed from the fight!  Already twenty seconds in we have Deadly Dandelion coming in fast!  She has already scored a couple of hits on Fusion and doesn’t look like she’ll be backing away,” the first announcer shouted.  Part of the crowd cheered for Fusion’s success, while the other egged Deadly Dandelion on.

            Deadly Dandelion threw a quick combo of punches, pushing Fusion towards the cage.  her tactic was to overwhelm Fusion offensively so she would be stuck on defense the entire time.  Fusion smirked, that would work to her advantage.  All she needed to do was watch and learn her pattern before striking back.  One minute twenty-three seconds.  Fusion saw the opening and lunged in with her powerful left hook.  Her left ribs absorbed Deadly Dandelion’s strong swing while hers connected with her jaw.  Deadly Dandelion’s mouth guard shot out of her mouth and she stumbled around.  Fusion charged and struck out with a solid hit to the liver quickly followed by a right hook.  Deadly Dandelion fell to the ground unconscious.  One minute fifty-one seconds.

            “What a hit!” the second announcer exclaimed over the roaring crowds.  “Fusion waited and struck at just the right moment, Deadly Dandelion has been removed from the fight just in time to introduce the third fighter of the night!  Let’s hear it for Yankee!”

            Fusion breathed out sharply and ignored the dull pain in her side.  Yankee didn’t try to run but gave her a measured attack, taking his time and working her legs.  Fusion blocked yet another roundhouse to her massive thighs before she half-stepped in for a quick combo.  Fifty-four seconds.  She needed to work him quickly, otherwise she’d be facing off against two.  An attempted takedown was blocked and she was dealt a handful of hits as a result.  Blood trickled down her face from a small cut around her left eye.  Fusion would try to charge in and overwhelm him with hits, but he was able to avoid or lessen the impacts of the ones that connected.  One minute forty-seven seconds.  A sweaty dark leg shot out slapping against Yankee’s thigh once again.  When Fusion was slow to withdraw her leg he grabbed it and charged forward, forcing her to rapidly hop backwards while she tried to free her leg and maintain her footing.  As she neared the iron cage, Fusion jumped towards it, caught a grip with her other foot, pushed off and drove her knee into Yankee’s face as she came flying towards him.

            A definite crush could be felt from the impact and the two landed on the floor of the platform with a loud thud.  The crowd roared in excitement.  Crimson liquid blossomed from Yankee’s horribly broken nose, yet he was still conscious.  Fusion began to rain down punches to finish him off before – Fusion’s world went sideways as a body collided with hers throwing her into the floor, her bun absorbing the impact of her head.  She pushed and rolled her new attacker over, trying to end up on top.  Long pale legs wrapped around her torso as she was pulled forward, braking her posture.  Out of the corner of Fusion’s blue eye she could barely make out where Yankee was and if she had time to get out of the new opponent’s guard.

            “Our fourth competitor has arrived with a bang!  Everyone welcome Diamond Cutter!”

            Fusion pushed on Diamond Cutter’s abdominals and recovered her posture, in a matter of seconds she broke her sloppy guard and jumped to her feet, scanning quickly for Yankee.  She had just enough time to block one of his punches and grit her teeth when the other hit her gut.  One minute two seconds.  Fusion tried to finish off the still slightly dazed Yankee, but Diamond Cutter’s fresh advance cut the attempt short.  Mismatched irises jumped from one opponent from the next as they closed in on her.  She couldn’t get backed up against the cage and she couldn’t be out in the open where one could be at her back with the other at her front.  Fusion dove between the the two, rolled onto her feet, and turned to face them; their backs now towards the iron bars.  Once again she focused on Yankee, hoping to knock him out.  Diamond Cutter lunged in again scoring multiple hits and driving Fusion away from Yankee.  As she turned to defend herself and counter, Yankee came at her from the other side.  Fusion growled and lunged at him, tackling him to the ground.  She didn’t even wait to get a solid position before she was striking out.  It took too long.  A thin, pale, yet strong arm wrapped around Fusion’s neck, pulling her to her feet and compressing to cut off her essential blood supply.

            Dark arms instinctively reached up and pulled the arm partially away, restoring some of the blood flow to her brain.  A strong kick struck her unprotected side.  As she tried to get out of the dangerous grip on her neck, Yankee scored hit after hit on her body and face.  Fusion tried to drop low so she could throw Diamond Cutter over her shoulder, but the fighter wrapped her legs around and in between Fusion’s legs, establishing her control and making it difficult to throw her.  Another hard hit was taken to her left side.  Two minutes.  Fusion didn’t even hear the name of the fifth opponent, all she saw was their bulky figure out of the corner of her hazel eye before their fist crashed across the side of her face.  Fusion’s dazed eyes looked out into the stands as the world faded to black.  For an instant she saw two figures sitting near the front crying out for her amongst the rest of the roaring masses.

            _I’m sorry…I failed you…_

            Slowly the sounds and sights of the real world came into focus.  After the different colored irises opened, they quickly shut, it was too bright.  The hard surface of the platform floor began to register underneath the side of her face, her throbbing left side, and both of her legs and arms.

            “What a stunning match!  A team combo by Yankee, Diamond Cutter, and the finial fighter, Cookie Crumbler!”

            “Yes indeed!  Diamond Cutter held Fusion captive while Yankee and Cookie Crumbler finished her off,” the second added.  “For a moment there at the end of Yankee’s solo time Fusion might have won.”

            Garnet slowly moved her jaw, her mouth guard loose inside of her mouth.  She tasted iron.  Motionless arms reactivated as she pulled them towards her awkwardly sprawled body.  Carefully, she pushed up and began to stand up.  Eyes looked into stands, staring at the spot she had seen them earlier, but no one was there.  Shaky legs slowly straightened out as Garnet regained her feet.  Off to her left the three remaining fighters paraded around the ring, basking in their victory.  Garnet took one stumbling step forward and gritted her teeth in pain as she made the mistake of taking a deep breath.  Her left side screamed at her.  The ref guided her to the center of the Iron Pit holding onto her right wrist.  On his other side stood the other three where he raised his hand over their heads.  Cheers and boos radiated all over The Ember Colosseum.  Garnet hung her head in shame and watched as another drop of her blood marred her soiled yellow rash guard.  She briefly congratulated the three on their victory over her with a firm handshake for each.

            The words and sounds of the announcers, the crowd, and her corner were lost to Garnet as she walked back to where her locker room was.  Once she was alone in the dark cold room, she pressed a hand against her side and plopped onto the bench.  Her left hand braced her head as she leaned forward trying to fight the nausea churning in her stomach.  She had lost.  Garnet fought back the tears of frustration trying to escape.  She remained seated as she heard the two coming.  Dr. Maheswaran quickly approached her and crouched down to her seated level.  Yellow Diamond simply stood off to the side, arms crossed under her chest.

            “Let me see your eyes, Garnet,” Dr. Maheswaran spoke gently.

            Warm hands cradled her face as the doctor looked over her face.  One hand was removed and brought out a soft light and shined it towards her eyes.  Garnet pulled away and shut her eyes, she had had enough of bright lights for the night.

            “I know it hurts, it will only take a moment. I need to see if your pupils are reacting to the changes in light.”

            The curly haired teen forced her eyes open as the light was quickly flashed once again.  Once the light was put away her eyes closed yet again as she could feel the tears running down her cheeks.

            “How much did I lose?” Garnet addressed the silent authority in the room as Dr. Maheswaran began to gently clean off her face.

            “Twenty thousand,” Yellow Diamond simply stated.

            “What?!” Garnet whipped her head to the side to look at the businesswoman.  She paused for a moment, the sudden movement had made her head spin.  “Twenty thousand?  That’s going to take me two almost three wins to make that up!”

            Dr. Maheswaran stepped back, opting to not try and work on Garnet while this conversation was going.

            “It’s nothing compared to what I lost.”

            “Then why did you bet so much!” Garnet stood up and took a step towards the unfazed woman.  “You knew the details of the fight, we both knew the chances of me winning were slim, if you didn’t want to lose why didn’t you just bet against me?” she continued as she walked towards the other woman.

            “I never bet against my Champion,” Yellow Diamond coldly stated.

            The fire behind Garnet’s anger was extinguished in a millisecond.  The teen stopped her advance and stared down at the floor.  “Well then maybe you should have this time,” she muttered bitterly.

            “And what kind of confidence in you does that display?  To bet against my own Champion, my favored fighter, the fighter I picked to represent me personally?”  Yellow Diamond turned to face Garnet fully, chin raised high.  “I always bet that you will win, so that you always know that when you win, I win and if you lose, I lose.  And whenever I win, you win, and when I lose, you lose.  How would you know how to perform in a fight if I changed how I bet on you from fight to fight?  It’s a gamble because, yes, you do lose from time to time.”

            Garnet looked off to the side, unsure on how to respond.

            “You agreed to this, Garnet.  Every fight I bet on you to win.  When you do, a portion of the money I get from your victory goes to you to pay off the debt.  When you lose, the debt is increased by that same portion.”

            The dark skinned teen sat back down on the bench.  Dr. Maheswaran felt that it would be safe for her to return to her task.  Yellow Diamond walked over to the sullen teenager.

            “Yes, I did bet more than usual on this fight, I honestly did think you would win and the payout was considerably higher than your previous fights because you were the underdog.”

            Silence wrapped around the three figures in the locker room.  Once again, Dr. Maheswaran examined Garnet, checking for injuries.  When she pressed on Garnet’s side the teen gasped out in pain, a frown increased on the middle aged doctor’s face.  After a few minutes Yellow Diamond spoke.

            “Well?”

            Dr. Maheswaran sighed and gently prodded Garnet’s side again.  “It doesn’t feel like anything is broken, though I would need an x-ray to know for sure.  Most likely it’s bruised.  Garnet, did you hear or feel a snap or crack when you got hit any of those times?”

            The curly haired teen shook her head.  “No, they just kept hitting that one area a lot.  I don’t think it’s broken either.”

            “Other than a couple of stiches needed for her eyebrow and lip, Garnet may have a very minor concussion from getting knocked out and bruising on a couple of her ribs.  In a couple of weeks she should be all healed up,” the doctor stood back and delivered her diagnosis.

            “You may go ahead and stitch up her face,” Yellow Diamond permitted with a wave of her hand.

            “When is my next fight?” Garnet asked, her deep accented voice cutting in.

            “Next weekend.”

            “What?” Garnet and Dr. Maheswaran exclaimed in unison.

            “She needs to rest, her injuries could get worse,” Dr. Maheswaran began.

            The tall businesswoman gave her a sharp glare. 

            “Garnet needs time to heal, one week is not enough,” the doctor pressed.

            “A week will be plenty.”  Yellow Diamond then turned to Garnet.  “I’ll inform your morning trainer to only have you do minimal work.  Lots of mobility and low intensity drills.”

            “I would like more than a week to recover,” Garnet tried.

            “You want to turn down an opportunity to earn back part of the money you lost tonight?”  Yellow Diamond said incredulously.  “You are scheduled to fight next Saturday; I highly encourage you to win.” The businesswoman’s tone left no room for debate.

            “Yes, Yellow Diamond,” Garnet bowed her head.

            “It would be best that she rests for two weeks,” Dr. Maheswaran tried one last time.

            “Thank you for your advice Priyanka, but it has already been settled.  Garnet will fight next week.”

            “Fine, but before the match I need to check her and give an all clear if she is safe to fight.”

            “Of course.  I would expect nothing less,” Yellow Diamond said in an agreeable tone.  “Now I will leave you two, Garnet I will see you next weekend if we don’t see each other before then.  Priyanka, thank you for your assistance.”

            With that, Yellow Diamond turned and left the dim room.  Dr. Maheswaran pulled her bag next to her and began to take out the tools she would need to stitch Garnet up.  She glanced up at the ceiling and located the one light she would want to turn on.

            “If you could lie down right here, Garnet,” the doctor motioned.  “I’m going to turn on this set of lights.  Feel free to close your eyes.”

            The fighter complied without a word.  With the set of lights turned on, the dark skinned woman walked over and took a closer look at the split in the skin around the swollen eye.  She felt around in her bag for the hard plastic case containing the anesthetic filled needle.

            “Alright, I’m going to numb you up, you’ll feel a light sting at first but it should fade away.  If at any time you feel what I’m doing, please let me know.”

            “Thank you,” was all Garnet said.

            “You’re welcome,” she returned softly, a brief smile appeared on her features.

           

            The metal painted door opened as a lone figure walked into the dark house.  Garnet walked slowly to her room carrying her duffle bag in her left hand.  Tired feet kicked off the loosely tied shoes into her bedroom.  The digital clock on the dresser read 2:47am.  Next, the duffle bag was thrown towards the closet.  Curly thick hair stood out in it’s full afro slightly damp and smelling like shampoo.  Sunglasses were placed on the dresser next to the alarm clock.  Feet carried their owner down the hall towards the master bedroom.  They stopped just at the doorway, unsure if they should enter the room or not.  In a quick movement the feet leapt so fast hands could snatch the note left on the bed; then jumped back to just outside of the door.  A swollen blue eye and a healthy light hazel eye looked down at the writing on the note.

            “Wish me luck!  I’ll fight my hardest for you two. – Love, Garnet”

            Broad, strong, hands savagely ripped the note into shreds and crushed the remains in her left hand.  Garnet sank to her knees and stared down at the carpet; her shoulders hunched forward.

            “I’m sorry,” she whispered.  “I failed.”  A single tear ran down her right cheek.  As the second came her sorrow turned to determination.  “I will make it up, I will pay it all off.  I will clear your names,” Garnet stated through gritted teeth as she bowed her head to the floor, ignoring the pulsing in her left side from the position.  “I promise.”  Lids slowly closed over eyes, pushing the last of her tears out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of pieces of information have been brought up in this chapter, don't worry, they will be explained in time.
> 
> To clear up any possible confusion, Sapphire and Ruby were the two individuals Garnet "saw" in the stands as she was being knocked out. It was a hallucination of sorts.


	16. Comforting Gestures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Amethyst in this chapter.
> 
> Also, I just want to say thank you to all of you who have been reading my work and giving me such positive feedback (either in hits, kudos, or comments, I love them all). It was a little nerve-wracking to post this, mostly because I didn’t know if people would enjoy it or not. Anyways thank you all! It’s been a fun experience for me sharing my work :)

^^^^^^

Amethyst and Pearl try to cheer up Garnet after her rough night at “work”.

^^^^^^

 

            A firm vibration could be felt on her side.  Garnet ignored the device opting to stay the void of sleep just a bit longer.  What felt like seconds later, the device was vibrating once again.  A low groan was forced out of her lungs as she pulled herself back into reality.  The teenager slowly sat up and pulled the phone out of her pants pocket.  Fifteen new messages, one missed phone call, one new voice mail.  Almost all of them were from Amethyst.

            Amethyst- [Dude, how’d it go last night?]

            Amethyst- [You still sleeping?]

            Pearl- [How was work last night?]

            Amethyst- [ARE YOU ALIVE? IT’S PAST NOON!]

            Amethyst- [If I find your dead body in a gutter I’m not going to be happy.]

            Amethyst- [That’s it I’m coming over!  And I’ve got a key!]

            Jasper- [Yo, we’re going to meet up tonight and hang out or study or something.  I guess all you smart people have a calculus test this week.  My place at 7.]

            Amethyst- [ONCE I FIND THE KEY I’M COMING OVER!]

            Amethyst- [Found it >:)]

            The last text was about five minutes old, she had maybe five more minutes before her closest friend would be barging into her house.  The fighter looked around at her surroundings and frowned.  She was in the hallway, apparently she had fallen asleep shortly after collecting the note from her parents’ room.  Garnet wiped away the residue of her tears, hissing when she touched her tender eye and portion of her lip.  She slouched against the wall, she really didn’t feel like getting up right now.  One glace at her phone informed her of the time.  2:08pm.  She had slept for nearly eleven hours.  That was a long time, especially for her.

            “No wonder Amethyst has been freaking out,” the curly haired teen said to the empty house.

            She was about to reply to Pearl’s text when there was a loud bang at the door followed by three loud knocks.  Panic surged through her system, she clumsily shot to her feet and stumbled into her room reaching out for her sunglasses.  Her sore body wasn’t moving with as much speed or coordination as it normally did.  Sharp ears picked up the sound of a key being inserted into the lock.  Garnet had about three seconds to compose herself.  With her sunglasses firmly in place, she began to collect the remains of the note.  The metal door burst open just as she was gathering the pieces.

            “GARNET!  WHAT THE HELL!” Amethyst began as she strode over.

            Garnet stood up to face her worried friend after picking up the last piece.

            “Why didn’t you text me back?!  I thought you were dead or something!” she waved her arms.

            “I was asleep.  Didn’t wake up until just ten minutes ago.”

            Amethyst regarded her with a puzzled expression as she looked over her fully dressed form.  The platinum blonde glanced into her room, noting the made bed.

            “In ten minutes you had enough time to get dressed, make your bed, but not text me back?”

            The taller of the two looked away as she walked towards the trashcan to throw away the remains of the note.  “I slept in this.”

            Her friend’s aggressive posture relaxed as she noted Garnet’s more subdued body language.  “How did your fight go last night?”

            “Lost.”  Garnet opted to look in the refrigerator for something for breakfast, no, lunch, instead of facing Amethyst.

            “Ouch, that’s rough, who was it against?”

            The darker teen didn’t respond.  After a couple of moments, the shorter sighed and rolled her eyes.

            “I get it, you don’t want to talk about it,” purple eyes glanced over at Garnet still staring into the fridge.  “Here, you sit down, I’m gonna make you something.”

            “But-”

            “No butts, go sit on the couch I’ll make you the best post awful fight breakfast ever.”

            “Thanks…” Garnet turned and flopped onto the couch.

            Slowly the noises Amethyst was making as she cooked faded as Garnet zoned out.  Her whole body hurt, she could feel every single bruise she had from last night.  Breathing too deep would cause her constantly throbbing side flare up and scream at her.  Her left eye didn’t want to open all the way; she didn’t blame it.

            _Twenty thousand…_

Garnet just wanted to fall asleep and forget yesterday happened.

            “Earth to Garnet,” Amethyst’s voice called out as the smell of eggs, cheese, sausage, and potatoes reached her nose.  “Food’s ready.”

            The taller teen opened her eyes and looked down at the plate being held in front of her.  On it was a huge breakfast burrito.  It smelled delicious.  She took the offered plate.

            “Thanks.  You made one for yourself too, right?”

            “Hell yeah!  I’m not going to let you eat alone now am I?” Amethyst smiled as she plopped down next to her with a slightly smaller breakfast burrito.  "You do that too much anyways," she added.

            In one swift movement she took a huge bite out of it.  Garnet smiled in spite of her low spirits.  She in turn picked up her burrito and took a nibble.  Her tongue savored the delicious combination of flavors and textures as her stomach hesitantly welcomed the nutrients.  Amethyst had finished hers by the time Garnet had only ate a third of hers.  The curly haired teenager looked down at the partially eaten meal.  Her stomach churned back and forth, it didn’t want to try and process anything more at the moment.

            “You, ok?” Amethyst asked.

            “Yeah, it’s just so delicious I can only eat so much,” Garnet chuckled weakly.  “I think I’ll just wrap it up and save the rest for later.”

            “Is it your mouth?”

            Garnet stared at her in confusion.

            “You got a massive bruise and it looks like there’s some stitches too,” Amethyst leaned closer.  “Yup, one, two, two stitches.  Damn, that’s what made you lose right?”

            The fighter looked away.  Unwanted memories returned from the previous night.

            “Yeah…”

            “Oh…sorry.  Didn’t mean to-you didn’t get hurt anywhere else did you?”

            The darker teenager didn’t answer the question.  Amethyst reached towards the sunglasses.  Her hand hesitated for a moment next to the reflective shades, when Garnet didn’t move away, Amethyst gently grabbed them and pulled them away.  Mismatched irises briefly closed and turned away from the light coming through the window.

            “Shit,” Amethyst breathed out.  “That looks like it hurts.  Can you open your eye?” she asked as she stared at the massive black eye surrounding Garnet’s blue eye.  “Stitches there too, man that must have been a hard hit.  Let me get you some ice for that.”

            Garnet just sat there as Amethyst rummaged through the freezer until she found one of the cold gel packs that were kept in it.  The fighter muttered a small thanks as she took the offered cold pack and placed it against her eye.  She wanted another one for her side, but she didn’t want to worry Amethyst any more than she already had.  It could wait.  The platinum blonde sat down silently next to her, staring at the floor.

            “It’s been awhile since you’ve lost, hasn’t it?  I mean I know you had your break from September until the end of basketball, but before then you were going on a five-win streak right?  And then your past two fights after basketball were also wins,” Amethyst commented.

            The curly haired teen silently agreed.

            “You sure seem down about this loss though…was there a lot riding on it?”

            “I don’t get paid if I lose.  So yeah…”

            “That sucks, you get injured and you don’t get paid.”

            Garnet hummed in agreement.

            “When is your next fight?”

            “This coming Saturday.”

            “Dang, that’s not much of a break, are you going to be ok?”

            “Yeah…I’ll be fine.”

            The two friends fell into a comfortable conversation lull.  Amethyst turned on the TV and began flipping through channels.  Garnet continued to ice her eye; 20min on 20 min off.  On the off time she would inconspicuously hold it against her injured side.  Before Amethyst left, she made Garnet promise she would come to the study group at Jasper’s tonight.  According to her logic, another cure for post-fight loss was to hang out with friends.  Garnet eventually agreed to go.  She thanked her friend for coming over and making her breakfast.  Amethyst, smiled, gave her a big hug, and stated, “That’s what friends are for.”  The taller teenager hummed in agreement.  As she closed the door, she looked back at the kitchen and chuckled.  The dishes from the cooking and eating were piled by the sink.

            “Classic, Amethyst,” Garnet smiled as she began to clean up the area.

 

            Papers and textbooks were strewn all over the large wood table.  Pearl was deep in thought as she wrote down her steps on the calculus problem.  Peridot sat next to her, equally focused.

            “Hey,” Jasper started as she sat down.  “When are the other two showing up?”

            Pearl looked up and glanced around at their group.  Lapis was making a paper airplane with a page of practice problems.

            “Garnet and Amethyst?” Pearl asked.

            “Yeah, it’s almost 8, they should be here by now.”

            “I don’t know…I haven’t heard anything from either of them today actually.”

            “Really?” the buff teen frowned.  “Come to think of it, when I talked to Amethyst to make sure she was coming, she went off about having to babysit Garnet and keep her from sulking in a corner all day.  She said she would come, but never listed a time.  I would like to have her here so the two of us can go over the pre-cal stuff while you nerds do your smart math.”

            “Sulking?” Pearl raised an eyebrow.

            Jasper just shrugged.  “I can’t always tell when she’s exaggerating.”

            “Pearl,” Peridot redirected the red head’s attention.  “You have access to the school’s machining capabilities correct?”

            “Yes,” Pearl said after a moment of hesitation.

            “And you have the knowledge and permission to operate the machines properly?”

            “Yes.  I’ve only done a couple of small programs, but I can figure it out well enough.  Why?”

            “As you are probably aware I’ve been working on building a robot for one of my classes.  There is a custom functional piece I need made.  I have the material, but lack the ability to use the machines at school to cut it into it’s required shape.”

            “Oh, and I’m guessing you would like me to help you with that?”

            “If you would.  Don’t you also have a project you need to complete in that class?  This could easily be used for both projects.  It would be a collaborative effort.  I provide the design and materials, you provide the programming and the actual creation of the final part.”

            Pearl thought for a moment.  “I could do that.  I’m not too far in my current semester project, so I could drop it and work with you on this part.  Do you have any drawings or schematics for it?”

            “Do I!?”  Peridot reached into her backpack and pulled out a note book, setting it down on the table proudly.

            The dancer opened it up and began to look through the pages of concept drawings, finalized drawings, and dimensions.  “Wow…you have all of the features mapped out and everything.  I could easily recreate these in our CAD/CAM program to create the tool paths.  After that we would just need to import the stock size and set up the machine.  It would probably require a couple of lunches or early days, but we could totally do this.”

            “YES!  Victory shall be mine!” Peridot pumped her small fists into the air.

            “Victory?”

            “Yes, this piece not only serves as a leverage point for my robot’s arms, but holds the motors and is much lighter than standard stainless steel.”

            Pearl glanced down at the drawings again.  “Titanium 10V-2Fe-3Al?  You have a block of titanium this size?  That must have cost a lot.”

            “A cost I didn’t mind paying with part of my summer cash.  I’ve had it for weeks, 8”x6”x3” of the shiny alloy just waiting to be cut into perfection.  It will be awesome, I’m going to crush all the other robots with my lighter weight and greater capacity to lift.”

            All three of them stared at the small teenager with confused expressions.  Peridot sighed and adjusted her glasses.

            “On the last week of school each robot will be weighed and will be given weights to lift up.  The highest ratio of weight lifted to robot weight will be named the best robot builder of the class!  This is the final piece I need, everything else is figured out.”

            “I see,” Pearl slightly forced a smile.  Her friend’s enthusiasm was a little unexpected and it was nerve-wracking to be trusted in making this final and essential piece.  “Well, I can start building this tomorrow in class.  I’m sure my teacher won’t mind me changing my project so late in the semester.”

            “So, wait,” Jasper interjected.  “The robots don’t actually fight each other?”

            “No….” Peridot gave Jasper a sideways glance.

            “Lame,” the strong teenager huffed.

            Lapis snorted.  “Well I hope you ‘crush’ the competition anyways.”

            Peridot beamed.

            The door was thrown open with a loud bang.

            “WE’RE HERE!  Let the studying commence!” Amethyst shouted as she and Garnet walked into Jasper’s home.

            “Hey!  No busting the door open!  You knocked those pictures crooked.” Jasper growled as she rushed over the straighten them up.

            “Heh, sorry,” the platinum blonde shrugged.  “I finally got this little black cloud up and over here.” She motioned to Garnet as the dark teen walked over to the table and sat down across from Pearl.

            Pearl smiled at Garnet, but received nothing in return.  The stoic teenager didn’t look up as she pulled out her notebook and study guide.  Her whole body language screamed that she was upset about something and it didn’t seem like she was going to offer any explanation.

            “She had a rough night at work,” Amethyst explained as she took in everyone’s concerned looks.  “I suggest not asking about it.”

            The group nodded and officially began their study session now that everyone was there.  Jasper and Amethyst worked on their pre-cal with occasional help from the others at the table, while the other four worked on their study guide.  Pearl looked once again at Garnet, so far she had yet to say anything and had made only gestures for communication.  It worried her, but she kept her tongue still, even when she noticed the bruising on her chin and the stitches.  Despite the one teenager’s dampened mood, the group was able to work through all of the problems and cleared up any questions.  Before long they were saying good-bye and thanks to Jasper for having the study session at her place.  Peridot and Lapis drove off in Lapis’s car and Amethyst stepped away from Pearl and Garnet as they made their way to the tallest teen’s car.

            Pearl glanced down at their intertwined hands as they leaned against the car.  Light blue eyes looked up at the bruise.  Her gut clenched.  Garnet had gotten hurt again.  The pale teenager braced a hand against Garnet’s far shoulder and tipped her head up to place a light kiss on the injured spot.  Garnet pulled away in surprise and looked down at her with an expression Pearl assumed was confusion.  The smaller teenager blushed and looked away.

            “My mom always said kisses helped things feel better.  She did it when I was younger, though not really anymore-”

            Pearl’s explanation was cut off as she was pulled in for a tight hug.  Garnet sighed heavily into the crook of her neck.

            “Thank you,” came the quiet reply.

            The lighter teen softly smiled and returned the embrace.  She placed another light kiss on the side of Garnet’s head.  “You’re welcome.”

            A few moments later Amethyst’s voice broke through the quiet.

            “Alright can we go now before I have to watch a game of tonsil hockey?!”

            Pearl dramatically sighed and rolled her eyes. Garnet began to chuckle against her small frame.  Pearl relaxed her hold a little as Garnet stood up straight, a light smile played on her full lips.

            “Tonsil hockey?” the red head directed to the curly haired teenager.

            “It’s fun, we’ll have to play it sometime.  If you want,” Garnet smirked; then placed a light kiss on Pearl’s cheek.

            Pearl’s face flushed even more and her heart rate picked up as her mind connected the dots.

            “C’mon!” Amethyst shouted.

            Pearl nervously laughed and stepped back.  She wished the two goodnight as she went to her own car.  The dancer shook her head as she drove home; it had been a productive, yet interesting evening.  A blush crept on her face once again as her mind brought up the idea of potentially kissing Garnet like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's always interesting to see which scenes get woven into the story, some are planned, and others just come as I reach that point in the story. One such scene is in chapter 8 where Garnet tells Pearl about what happened to her parents. I did not plan that one at all and it has been one of my favorites to write.
> 
> also tonsil hockey is, as I'm sure you've guessed, a slang for making out. ;]


	17. Phase One: Optimism

^^^^^^

Pearl and Peridot work on the project together while Garnet gears up for another shift at “work”.

^^^^^^

 

            Working with Peridot on the robot part proved to be fairly easy.  They got along for the most part, and had complimentary knowledge to piece together the project.  Pearl provided the experience with the programs and tool path creation, while Peridot added troubleshooting skills, a second set of eyes, and a critique on the final product on how it should look. Pearl’s professor was hesitant to let her change her project so late in the semester, but due to her good reputation and hard work, he allowed it.  He did caution her that the project was ten percent of her final grade and not finishing in time would hurt the overall grade on the project.  Every morning that week Pearl and Peridot would meet up right when the teacher got in and opened the room to them.  This gave them about an hour each day to work on the programming.  It was complicated and would require about four different operations.  Multiple times they would get stuck and the teacher would be able to drop by and help out.  Whenever he wasn’t available, Pearl would have to wait until her class or the next morning to get his help.  Luckily, there were also instances where she was able to clean up the issue on her own.

            As the final bell for the day rang, Pearl headed towards the office building.  Rose Universe wanted to catch up with her briefly so they scheduled a time to meet right after classes and just before her dance lessons.  Rose’s small office was the perfect temperature and smelled of fresh flowers.  Pearl noticed a bouquet of pink roses sitting on the woman’s desk.  In the bouquet was a small note indicating it was from her husband, Greg Universe, for an anniversary.

            “I almost didn’t notice you!” Rose beamed as she looked up from her computer.  “You were so quiet when you walked in.  Come, sit down.”

            “Thanks,” Pearl smiled.

            “So, I just wanted to check in with you.  I didn’t call you in because you were in any trouble.”

            “Oh…I didn’t think I was,” Pearl nervously laughed.

            “Well that’s good,” Rose chuckled.  “So, how are your classes finishing up?  You’ve got three AP exams coming up in four weeks, I sure hope you’ve been studying.”

            “I have, especially since both AP calculus and physics are on the same day…luckily I get a day to recover before I take the AP US history one.”

            Rose made a face.  “I don’t know why they scheduled those two on the same day.  Well you better bring some good food to help you through the day.  Study groups are always a good tool to use as well.  Do you have anyone in those classes to study with?”

            “I do, Peridot and I are in the same three AP classes, though different periods, so we compare notes a lot.  As for study groups, my main group of friends works well for that actually.”

            “Even Jasper and Amethyst?  I’m impressed,” Rose seemed genuinely surprised.

            “Yes they can get off topic at times,” Pearl admitted, “but they’re dedicated to doing well this year.”

            “That’s good to hear, especially since college applications look a lot at the junior year grades.  A number of colleges will also count certain AP scores as class credit; a nice way to knock off some of those pesky general requirements.  Speaking of junior year, next week is prom for you, are you planning on attending?” Rose posed as she leaned forward slightly.

            “I am; our friends are going as a group.  Last weekend I went with my Mom to purchase my dress.  It will be fun.  I am looking forward to it.”

            “That’s good to hear, I just hope that none of the students get food poisoning this year.”

            “Food poisoning?” Pearl raised an eyebrow.

            “Yes,” the woman sighed.  “Last year the catering company chosen did a subpar performance, a few of the students had upset stomachs and other symptoms from the food they ate.  Nothing serious, but it put a damper on a number of student’s nights.”

            “Oh…”

            “Just check your food before eating it, it never helps to be a little cautious,” Rose winked.

            “I will definitely do that, thank you for the warning,” the dancer nervously smiled.

            “Just doing my job,” the large woman said as she sat back.  “I’m sure you’re excited for the dance portion, maybe share a few dances with some friends?”’

            Pearl glanced to the side and rubbed the back of her neck.  “Yeah, I’m sure I’ll dance with a few of my friends.”

            “Anyone in particular?”

            “N-no, not really,”

            “Oh…I’m surprised, I thought you would be at least a little excited about dancing with Ms. Erutav, but I assumed wrong.”

            “Oh, no! No, Garnet can’t make it, if she could,” Pearl chuckled nervously, “it would have been a completely different situation.”

            “That’s unfortunate.  Why can’t she make it?  If I may ask.”

            “Garnet has work that night; she was unable to change shifts or get it off.”

            “Work?  I don’t remember any notes about Garnet having a job…”

            “Yes, it’s more of an on call security job for the weekends, I don’t really know much more than that.”

            “Interesting.”

            Pearl studied Rose’s expression for a moment.  The other woman seemed puzzled by the fact that Garnet had a job.  What would be wrong with that?  She wanted to ask why, but then figured it would be best to stay out of matters that should really only be discussed between Garnet, her guardian Jaune, and Rose.

            “I’m happy to hear that your classes are going well.”  Rose’s eyes flickered over to the clock for a millisecond.  “I know we don’t have much more time, but was there anything else you wanted to share or talk about?  We can talk about anything.”

            The dancer paused for a moment, considering bringing up Garnet’s injury from work and her concern about it, but pushed it aside.  It wasn’t her place to throw Garnet’s personal business out in the open.

            “No, not really, thanks for inviting me in to talk,” Pearl finished.

            “Anytime,” Rose beamed.  “I hope you have a great time at Junior Prom with your friends.”

            “I will,” the pale teen said with a smile.

 

            Rose shuffled through the metal cabinet one more time, pulling out Garnet Erutav’s physical folder.  Searching through all of the digital files had resulted in nothing, so she was going to the originals.  However, even opening it up and sorting through each paper one at a time she could not find what she was looking for.

            “Rose!  What are you still doing here?  It’s Friday and almost everyone is gone.” one of the office ladies asked as she noticed the woman.

            “I’m just trying to find something.  Garnet is usually really good about making any payments and completing any paperwork, I don’t see her forgetting something like this…”

            “Like what?”

            “A work permit.  One of Garnet’s friends just mentioned to me that she has a job, it’s on weekends and apparently not that many hours, but still she’s supposed to have one.”

            The other woman frowned.  “That is odd.  Maybe it got misplaced?”

            “Possibly, if I can’t find it I’ll just have to have a talk with Garnet about it.  Though you’d think her guardian Jaune Simmons would have ensured Garnet filled it out.”

            “I’m sure it was just a simple oversight, Garnet did have quite the busy basketball season, she probably just forgot.”

            Rose nodded.  “I’ll speak with her next week.  Have a good weekend!”

            “You too!” the office lady waved.

 

            It was Saturday night and Pearl was just laying down on her bed relaxing from the hectic week.  The coming Monday she was going to set up the first operation for the robot part and run it.  If everything went well, they would be ready to run the second operation by the end of the week.  Light blue eyes closed and relaxed.  It was the weekend, time to relax and not worry about school for a moment.  All of her homework was complete and she was on par with her studying schedule.  A small sigh escaped her thin lips.  She really had wanted to ask Garnet out on a date that night, but the tall athlete had work…Pearl rolled onto her side.  They could spend some time together tomorrow or something.  She pulled out her phone and began typing a message.

            Pearl- [Be safe at work tonight! <3]

            The thin teenager vehemently erased that message.

            Pearl- [I hope work goes smoothly, see you tomorrow?]

            She pursed her lips.  The first part was ok.

            Pearl- [I hope work goes smoothly tonight.  Would you like to spend some time together tomorrow?]

            It was satisfactory.  With a quick press of a button the message was off.  Pearl shoved the phone under her pillow and closed her eyes once again.  In only a matter of seconds her phone was chirping.

            _That was quick, Garnet must have been right next to her phone._

Her smile quickly turned to a scowl when she saw that the text was not from who she wanted it to be from.

            Jasper- [Anyone wanting to go to the fights tonight?  I know Peri at least enjoyed herself last time.]

            Amethyst- [Not going to be able to make it, family fun night. Yay :D]

            Peridot- [Was that a sarcastic ‘yay’ or a genuine ‘yay’?]

            Amethyst- [I don’t know yet… :{]

            Jasper- [Damn, well then I guess no one can go then…]

            Amethyst- [You can always buy a ticket like everyone else.]

            Jasper- [How much?]

            Amethyst- [Depends on where you sit.]

            Jasper- [Ughh, I think I’ll just pass for this week…next week then?]

            Peridot- [Next week is Junior Prom, you clod.]

            Jasper- [Shit!  I knew something important was coming up.  Never mind, I gotta figure out what I’m wearing for that.  Sorry for blowing up all of your phones.]

            Lapis- [Peridot: 1 Jasper: 0]

            Jasper- [LAZULI!!!]

            Amethyst- [:’D]

            Peridot- [Yes! Victory shall be mine! >:D]

            Pearl smiled.  She didn’t bother typing a reply, it was just nice to watch the conversation.  Maybe she’d check with her parents if they had any plans for the evening.

 

            Dr. Maheswaran frowned.  She took another look at Garnet, asked a couple more questions and checked the bruise on the teen’s side.

            “Is she clear?” Yellow Diamond pressed.

            The doctor turned to glare at the impatient woman.  “She shouldn’t be fighting, but I know neither of you are going to listen to me.”  A long sigh was pushed from her lungs.  “You are clear to fight.  I don’t see any indications of a concussion.  However, I strongly recommend you protect your head and your bruised ribs.  Don’t take too many hits in those areas.”

            Garnet nodded.  “Thank you Dr. Maheswaran.”

            “Good with that settled, Garnet go start stretching and warming up, you’ll be up in about an hour,” Yellow Diamond spoke.

            With another nod the fighter left the two women.

            Dr. Maheswaran gathered her bag and turned to leave.  “Was there anyone else you wanted me to check up on?”

            “I don’t have anyone else fighting tonight, so no.  Do you want me to send you an alert when her match begins?  Or do you plan on staying around?”

            “A message will be fine.  It will give me enough time to make it back.”

            The businesswoman nodded.  “Of course.”

 

            “And the next match of the night is Yellow Diamond’s Champion, Fusion, against Red Diamond’s fighter, Bloodhound!  Two martial artists that can pack a punch, Bloodhound has the advantage in strength and power, but Fusion has a solid ground game in addition to her fast hands,” the first announcer shouted.

            “Bloodhound won his last match a few weeks ago by crowd vote and has been working to move up his ranking within the middle ring.  A victory against Fusion would be great for his standings.  Despite a previous winning streak, Fusion is coming off a tough loss from last weekend in the Iron Pit, we will see how she comes out tonight.  Will she get thrown around or will she come back with fire in her belly?” the second added.

            “Should be an interesting match!  If Fusion gets Bloodhound on the ground it will be a hard fight for him, but he only needs to get in a few good hits with his deadly right hook to take the match.  It’s anyone’s game if you ask me.  Now don’t forget to place the last of your bets, the bookies will be closing soon!”

            Parts of the crowd cheered as Bloodhound’s music pulsed from the speakers and he approached the hexagonal platform.  As soon as the burly fighter was settled the music changed to Fusion’s theme and the fighter jogged up to the platform.

            “I’ll have to say, she’s looking pretty healthy considering the beating she took last weekend,” the first announcer commented.

            “True, but you can still see some bruising around her left eye, she’s going to need to work hard to protect that area if she is to keep visibility on that side,” the second pointed out.  “As for Bloodhound he looks fit and ready to challenge Yellow Diamond’s Champion.”

            “Our referee for the night will begin the match in just a moment ladies and gentlemen, get ready!”

            At the signal from the ref the two fighters began to feel each other out, throwing kicks and punches to test the waters.

            “Bam!  A solid takedown by Fusion in the first thirty seconds of the match!  She is not wasting any time tonight.”

            “That’s right, she knows her advantage lies in fighting on the ground with Bloodhound.  Oh wow!  Bloodhound got back to his feet, looks like Fusion’s control wasn’t solid, he escaped with a quick movement and retreated to the other side of the ring.”

            “Now they are trading punches, both fighters have solid defense, but one slip up could spell trouble for either fighter.”

            Fusion attempted a couple more takedowns, but whenever she would move in Bloodhound would practically run away.  The younger fighter gritted their teeth and moved in, playing the standing game for now.

            “Bloodhound needs to watch those legs, so far he hasn’t been making an effort to block or avoid all of those kicks to his leading leg.  In ten minutes, it’s going to be much harder to move around.  What a quick combo!  I didn’t even see that coming!  Fusion’s on her heels trying to weave out of this precise onslaught from Bloodhound.  Cross, jab, right hook, she’s taking a lot of hits here ladies and gentlemen.”

            The crowd jumped up and roared as Fusion ducked under another right hook to grab both of Bloodhound’s legs and take him straight down to the floor.

            “A textbook takedown right there followed by a swift movement to side control!  The two fighters are on the ground now and Fusion is letting Bloodhound have a taste of his own medicine,” the first announcer shouted.

            “She needs to be careful here, Bloodhound could easily throw her off with the proper leverage.  Fusion needs to maintain her control and work to a more solid position to claim a limb or just rain down blows.  Ooo!  Hard knees to the side, Fusion’s working to soften him up.”

            Bloodhound quickly reached over Fusion’s shoulder and grabbed the back of the waistband on her shorts.  In one quick movement he turned and flipped the smaller fighter over so that he was now on top with side control.

            “What an excellent reversal!  Bloodhound now has control on the ground.  Let’s see what he can do with that.  Optimally he is going to want to escape, staying on the ground with Fusion is a dangerous game to play.”

            “And not a heartbeat behind, Fusion already has turned the tables and has brought up her guard.  A position of control for her, but she is still in danger of getting hit here.”

            “That’s exactly what Bloodhound is doing, he’s reaching out to strike with those long arms of his.”

            “What’s this?!  Lightening quick Fusion’s got his right arm in an almost complete arm bar!  Can Bloodhound escape?!”

            “All she needs to do is break his grip on his other arm and straighten it out,” the second added to the hype running around the colosseum.

            “Was that a tap?  There you have it ladies and gentlemen!  Bloodhound tapped as soon as he lost his grip, lucky that he did to, a second later and Fusion would have probably broken his arm with how hard she was pulling it.”

            “Your winner for the match by arm bar in seven minutes and thirteen seconds, FUSION!”

            The crowds cheered and praised the victor as Fusion stood up and raised both sweaty arms into the air.

            “An exciting, fast paced match.  Many people may give Yellow Diamond a hard time for picking a Champion that is only in the middle ring instead of the upper, but you got to hand it to Yellow Diamond, she sure knows a good fighter when she sees one.”

 

            Garnet breathed out heavily as she paced lightly in the locker room.  Her body was still shaking from the adrenaline pouring into her system from the fight.  She had taken more hits then she had wanted, but she had won, and that was what really mattered.  The fighter striped down to her last layer of clothing and waited for Dr. Maheswaran to arrive.  In a couple of minutes, the woman arrived with Yellow Diamond only a few steps behind.

            “Excellent work Garnet,” Yellow Diamond smiled.

            The doctor didn’t say much in greeting, she simply began looking over the teenager and checking her eyes.

            “Well it looks like you are still ok, from what I saw you only took a couple of hits to the head and side.  I’m not seeing a concussion.  How are the ribs?”

            “Fine, all of those punches I took didn’t feel too good, but I’ll have another week to rest,” Garnet grimaced.

            “Only a week?” Dr. Maheswaran turned to Yellow Diamond.

            The businesswoman nodded.  “Yes, Garnet has another match next weekend.”

            “I knew about this coming one,” Garnet added.

            Dr. Maheswaran sighed and stepped back.  “Three fights in a row, that’s going to take a toll on you.”

            “She can handle it Priyanka,” Yellow Diamond stepped in.  “You saw yourself how quickly she healed this past week, she’ll be even better condition come next Saturday.  Plus, a no show would only hurt her record, and that’s simply unacceptable.”

            The doctor frowned and then turned to Garnet. “How do you feel about this?”

            “I can do this,” the young fighter stated after a moment of deliberation.  “How much did I earn this time?”

            “Eight thousand.”

            Garnet nodded.  “Two more fights like that and I’ll be back on track.”

            “That’s my Champion, never afraid to back down from a fight,” Yellow Diamond praised.

 

            It wasn’t long before Garnet was walking in her house towards the master bedroom.  She reverently entered the room and collected the note.  The tired teenager sat down on the floor facing the bed.

            “I did well today.  I’m sure you both saw.  Don’t worry I’ll get us back on track in no time.  I know it’s a lot of fights one right after the other, but I can handle it,” Garnet spoke into the still room.

            The tall teenager stood up and walked quietly out of the room.  In a matter of seconds she fell face down on her bed and was fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose is back! I did not forget about her.


	18. Paperwork and Chips

^^^^^^

Pearl and Peridot make the first cuts into their project.  Garnet gets called into the office to speak with Rose.

^^^^^^

 

            It wasn’t until late Saturday night that Pearl received a response from Garnet on whether or not she wanted to spend some time together that Sunday.  Like usual, Garnet was more than happy to have her over to spend time together.  Pearl had fallen asleep soon after the conversation with a smile on her face.

            The pale teenager looked through the pictures on the mantle as her current company was pouring over the history homework she had forgotten to complete.  Light blue eyes glanced over at the hunched figure, long fingers tangled in endless black curls.  Pearl looked back over at the photos and paused.  She had seen them before, but hadn’t took notice of all of them.  Two of these stood out.  In one picture there was a group shot of Garnet, her two mothers, and a fourth, a tall fair skinned woman with shorter blonde hair.  The woman was standing behind the much shorter women, her arms around both, with a young Garnet in front and center.  Genuine smiles were on everyone’s’ faces.  The second picture was of a young teenage Garnet and the same woman.  It looked like it had been taken place right after a basketball game of sorts.  Garnet was in uniform and one hand was holding a trophy with a triumphant grin while the second was hugging the fair skinned woman back.  The young teenager was just short enough that the woman could comfortably wrap her arm around Garnet’s shoulders.  The woman beamed with pride.  Pearl returned her attention to the adorable picture of baby Garnet with her two mothers holding her up.  She couldn’t resist picking it up.  Pearl could feel Garnet moving to stand right behind her.  By now she had become used to her close friend’s silent movements.  She leaned back against Garnet’s body as Garnet wrapped her arms around her narrow waist.

            “Ruby and Sapphire?” the smaller of the two asked, guessing which one was which.

            “Sapphire,” Garnet’s finger briefly hovered over the image of the long blonde haired woman, “and Ruby,” her finger moved to the curly haired woman.

            Pearl stared at the picture for a few more minutes, committing the names and pictures to memory.  She reached out and grabbed the small group picture.  “Who is this in the back?”

            “That’s Jaune, my guardian.”

            “Really?  So that’s what she looks like, I don’t know what I was expecting,” Pearl admitted.

            Garnet chuckled.  “What were you imagining?”

            “I don’t know, honestly.  I was thinking she might be somewhat related to you, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case.”  Pearl swapped photos for the one picture of Jaune and Garnet after a basketball event.  “This was after…”

            “This was taken when it was just the two of us,” Garnet completed for her.  “It was a middle school basketball tournament.  Six thirty minute games in two days, fifteen minute halves.  My team got third place and I was awarded best defensive player for the tournament.”

            “Really?  That’s impressive, why did they award it to you?”

            “I had a really high number of blocks that weekend.  I think it was over forty.  Got my height and hops early, that and it’s very satisfying to block a shot.  There were other reasons why, but that was a main one.”

            “It looks like Jaune was able to make it to these basketball games.  That must have been nice,” Pearl commented.

            Garnet carefully took the photo out of Pearl’s hands and set it back on the mantle.  “That was back when she was able to make it to more of my games.  We’ve both become pretty busy these past two years.”

            Large arms wrapped back around Pearl, their hands meeting and fingers weaving together.  Pearl closed her eyes and relaxed into the hold.  Garnet rested her chin on Pearl’s shoulder, the air from Garnet’s nose tickling her cheek ever so slightly.

            “You finished your history homework already?  That was fast,” the lighter of the two spoke up.

            The other remained silent.

            “Did you finish your history homework?”

            Silence.

            “Garnet…?”

            Garnet pressed her face against Pearl’s shoulder blade and mumbled something.

            “What?” Pearl asked.

            “I feel like a bad host.  Inviting you over only to realize I have unfinished homework that needs to be taken care of.”

            “I don’t mind; your studies are important too.”

            “It’s boring; I enjoy spending my time with you much more.”

            Pearl laughed.  “I can always study with you.  It wouldn’t hurt for me to go over the material again since we do have the AP test in three weeks.”

            Garnet slowly spun Pearl out of the embrace and took a step forward.  “Do you mean study with me or ‘study’ with me,” she said the last part of the sentence in a slightly huskier voice as she brushed her round nose against Pearl’s longer, pointier one, lips tantalizingly close.

            Pearl’s heart skipped a beat.

            _Well two can play this game._

“By ‘study’ do you mean reading and taking notes, or do you mean this?”

            The dancer cupped Garnet’s jaw and pressed their lips firmly together.  Pearl opened her mouth slightly to softly suck and pull on the taller teen's bottom lip.  Before Garnet could respond in kind, Pearl leaned back and smirked.

            “Is that what you were referring to as ‘studying’?” she said with a tease.

            Garnet breathed out heavily.  “Yes?”

            “But that’s not going to help you finish your homework is it?”

            “We won’t know for sure unless we try,” Garnet suggested hopefully.

            Pearl leaned in again but stopped mere millimeters away from Garnet’s lips.  “Nice try,” she whispered before backing away and walking over to the table where Garnet’s unfinished homework laid.

            Garnet tilted her head back and groaned.

 

            Gears and motors whirled to life as the machine was turned on.  Pearl carefully watched the edge finder tool as she set the origin for the program off of the chunk of titanium secured in the machine’s jaws.  Peridot hovered nearby, safety glasses covering her regular glasses.  The tall dancer breathed out a sigh of relief as the origin was set.  With that part complete she removed the tool and inserted the first tool to be used in the program.

            “Ready?” she turned to Peridot.

            “As ready as I can be.  Sparks aren’t going to fly, right?”

            “No, just chips.”

            “Chips?”

            “Small sharp pieces of metal.  Hence the eye protection,” Pearl said as she tapped her safety glasses.

            “Ohhhh.”

            “So are you ready then?”

            “Let ‘er rip,” Peridot said with a nervous yet excited tone.

            Pearl nodded and hit the green button.  The idle machine revved up and began slowly cutting the material.  The two watched with bated breath.  The red head’s hand kept their grip on the controls, ready to hit the emergency stop if needed.  After a couple of minutes of successful machining the pair relaxed.  With the number of tool changes needed and the cutting speed it ran at, it took almost to the start of school for the operation to finish.  As the part was removed from the jaws and brushed off, Peridot grinned.

            “Phase one complete!”

            The dancer breathed out a sigh of relief.  “Tomorrow we’ll go over the second operation one more time and then the day after that we’ll set it up and run it.  If things go well you should have plenty of time to finish assembling your robot and test it out before the competition.”

            “Thank you for your assistance Pearl, we make a pretty good team.”

            “Yes we do.”

            Once the area around the machine had been cleaned up, they headed off for their math class.  As they were walking the five-minute warning bell sounded.  Neither of them were worried, they would make it to class in time.  Peal looked over in the direction of Garnet’s desk as she entered the room.  The teenager was leaning back in her seat, most likely just waking up from taking a nap before class.  A small brief frown crossed Pearl’s features.  With all the time she was spending on the project with Peridot, they hadn’t been able to have their traditional morning chats before math for over a week.  She brushed it off, she knew Garnet was ok with that, that and they were spending time together regularly with dates and study groups.  Either way, if everything kept going well she would be done in a couple of weeks and they could resume their tradition.

            Mr. Martin welcomed the class back from the weekend and gave them yet another reminder that their AP calculus test was only three weeks and two days away.  Before then they had one more subject to cover, and then would be working to review everything and perform several exercises that would help them get ready for the exam.  About forty-five minutes into class the intercom rang out.

            “Garnet Erutav please report to the office.  Garnet Erutav please report to the office.”

            All eyes turned to look at the mentioned teenager.  Garnet sat there, her face betraying no emotion.

            “Go ahead and take your bag with you Garnet,” Mr. Martin recommended.  “Office visits can either be very short or can take some time.”

            Garnet nodded and began to slowly pack up her notes.  She turned to glance at Pearl just before she stood up to leave.  Their gazes met, and Pearl offered a hopeful smile and shrug.  A small smile was returned.  The stoic teen then left the room with her backpack slung over one shoulder.

_Why would Garnet be called to the office?_

            Pearl turned her attention back to the front as Mr. Martin resumed the lesson; part of her brain still occupied with trying to figure out why Garnet was summoned.

 

            Garnet walked into the front office and looked around at the two front desk women.  She stepped up to one.

            “Garnet Erutav, I was called to come here,” she introduced.

            “Ah yes, glad you could come, Mrs. Universe would like to speak with you for just a moment.”

            “Rose?” Garnet repeated with confusion.

            “Garnet!”

            The curly haired teenager turned to see Rose quickly walking up to her with a huge cheerful smile on her face.

            “You got here right when I thought you would!  Don’t worry you’re not in trouble really, I just need to talk to you about something important.  Would you mind following me to my office?” the curvy woman asked.

            “O-of course,” Garnet slightly stuttered.  She had not been expecting that.  Garnet followed Rose into her office and took a seat in the chair across from the woman’s desk.

            “Before I jump into business I just wanted to ask how you were doing?  I know we don’t talk much because you’re always on top of everything.”

            Garnet paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say.  “Everything is going well.  I’ve been keeping up with my studies, been having fun with friends.  No complaints.”

            “No complaints?” Rose said with a slightly quizzical voice.  “That’s good to hear.”

            “Should I have complaints?” the teen asked as her sharp ears picked up on the tone Rose was using.

            “Well…Junior Prom is this weekend, and I heard that you won’t be able to make it.”

_Oh…that…it’s this weekend._

            “Ah, yes, besides that I have no complaints.  I had forgotten about it until you reminded me.”

            “No worries,” Rose waved off.

            Garnet sat back.  “So why did you want to see me?”

            “As direct as ever, Garnet.  I wanted to ask you why you are unable to attend Junior Prom.  From what I’ve heard, it was because you have a shift at work?”

            The curly haired teen tensed up and folded her arms across her chest.  “Yes,” she said slowly.

            “That’s unfortunate, I sincerely wish you could attend.”

            “That’s not a reason to call me into the office while I could be in class learning.”

            Rose straightened up in her seat.  “Yes, sorry, I wasn’t sure if you knew that in order to have a job while in school that you need to have a work permit.”

            Garnet was silent for a moment.  “What information is required to receive a work permit?”

            “It’s a simple form,” Rose started as she pulled out the form and pushed it towards Garnet.  “Your basic information and address, permission from a legal guardian, and then there’s a section for your employer to fill out as well.  They have to include how many hours you are expected to work and a brief description of the type of work you are performing.”

            Garnet leaned forward and picked up the form.  The counselor sat back and watched the expressionless teen read over the piece of paper.

            “If I don’t have a work permit what happens?”

            “Well technically you aren’t allowed to work and could get in trouble with authorities for doing so.”

            “If I get this filled out, can I still work while it’s being processed?”

            “Legally no, but I should be able to help expedite the processing.  I understand you have a shift this weekend, so you’ll want it approved before then.”

            “Yes.  So all I need to do is get this form filled out and bring it back?”

            “Exactly.  I will then facilitate the rest and then give you the official permit once it has been approved.”

            Garnet nodded and then stood up.  “I will get it back to you tomorrow.  That should give it enough time to be approved, correct?”

            “Yes,” Rose smiled.  “Before you go, may I ask what company you’re working for?”

            “Information Link,” the teen said as she began to walk out.

            “Really?”

            “There’s not going to be a problem with that, is there?”

            “No, I’m just surprised that’s all,” Rose lightly laughed off.

            “Was there anything else you needed to talk to me about?”

            “No, you may return to your class, I’m glad we had a chance to settle this.  I didn’t want you getting in trouble for not having your permit, that’s all.”

            Garnet turned over her shoulder and looked at Rose.  “Thank you, I appreciate that,” she said with sincerity.

            “Of course.  And remember, you can always come and talk to me about anything.”

            The dark skinned teenager nodded and then left.  Garnet walked swiftly down the empty halls.  She tried to even out her heavy breaths as her anger flared inside of her.  A grimace pulled at her lips as her injured side complained at the movement.  Someone had told Rose, someone had mentioned that she worked.  Only a few of her friends knew that she worked.  Garnet had not made an effort to hide it, nor had she told anyone not to tell anyone; that would only make people suspicious.  The past two years she hadn’t had a permit because no teacher or office personnel had found out about it.  It just wasn’t something that was talked about because she didn’t make a big deal about it.  Her mind riffled through her list of friends trying to decide who might have been the one to tell Rose.  Amethyst, Jasper, and any of the cool kids wouldn’t have told.  Lapis and Peridot didn’t seem to really care enough to even bother mentioning it to Rose.  As she stepped into her class her eyes fell on one figure in particular.

            _Pearl…_

Pearl turned and smiled at her.  Garnet pretended not to notice and just went for her seat.  Her hands shook slightly as she put the form away in her bag.  She took a couple deep breaths to try and calm her irrational anger.

 

            Lunch time was alive with the chatter on the upcoming dance that weekend.  Pearl half listened as she sat there eating her food.  She already had memorized all of the details, if her ears picked out any new things their group was going to do, she would listen more.  The other half of her attention was tuned into the tense, silent figure next to her.  So far she had not been able to find an easy way to ask Garnet why she was called to the office.  Whatever had happened had definitely set Garnet off her usually calm demeanor.  Pearl reached to the side and set her hand on Garnet’s bare forearm that was resting on the table.  When Garnet didn’t move away she slid her hand down and their fingers instinctively intertwined.  The grip was firm.

            “May I ask what the people at the office wanted?” Pearl tried.

            The darker teenager exhaled heavily.  “Rose called me in about a work permit for my job.”

            “Oh.” Pearl paused.  “I believe I understand what a work permit is, it’s a form that lets you have a job while going to school right?”

            Garnet nodded.  “Pretty much, it’s permission from the school district to work while attending school.  If you don’t have one, technically you aren’t allowed to work.  It also enables the school district to place restrictions on the number of hours worked a week and such.”

            It suddenly clicked.  The conversation with Rose she had the most recent Friday came back to Pearl.  She had mentioned that Garnet couldn’t make the dance because of work.  The counselor had given her an odd look and had admitted that she didn’t know that Garnet had a job.

            “I’m sorry,” Pearl whispered, guilt laced into her words.  “I told her about your job as an on call security guard.  I-I didn’t think anything of it, I assumed she already knew.  I’ve never worked during school; I didn’t even know that having a work permit was a hard rule.  I’m so sorry, Garnet.”

            Silence hung around them as Garnet stared off into the distance.

            “I’m not mad at you Pearl,” Garnet stated evenly.

            “What?  I’m the one who told her, she wouldn’t have had to call you in if I hadn’t mentioned it.”

            Garnet turned to look at her.  “It’s my fault for not taking care of the paperwork.  I knew about the law and didn’t act accordingly.”

            Pearl heard the words, but she didn’t entirely believe them.

            _Then what is she so tense about?_

            “My anger, isn’t directed towards you Pearl.  It’s at myself for not taking care of business.  I’m sorry if it seems that way.”

            The dancer relaxed a little, gripping the other’s hand back firmly.

            “If you say so.”

            “I mean it.  I’m not mad at you, just frustrated at the situation.  I need to get it approved before the weekend so I can make it to my shift.”

            Pearl nodded.  “You know…if it doesn’t get approved in time, I guess technically you’d be free to come to the dance,” Pearl said in a lightly joking tone.

            Garnet chuckled.  “Even if it didn’t clear I would still go to work, but I appreciate your attempt.”

            Pearl smiled and leaned her head on Garnet’s solid shoulder.  “Can you blame me?”

            “No.”  The taller of the two turned and pressed her lips firmly against Pearl’s.  Pearl melted and leaned into the kiss, savoring the feeling only to wish it could have lasted longer when Garnet pulled away.  “We’ll spend some time together afterwards.”

            “Promise?”

            “Promise.”

            “WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT TONSIL HOCKEY!!” Amethyst suddenly shouted at the two.

            They both jumped, faces flushing with embarrassment.

            “Amethyst!  We were doing nothing of the sort!” Pearl fired back.

            “Yeah, I know,” she grinned, “It was fun seeing both of you jump like guilty little fishes.”

            Peridot and Jasper rolled their eyes while Lapis gave them an expressionless thumbs up.

 

            Garnet- [We need to talk.]

            Yellow Diamond- [About what?  You already know the details of this weekend’s fight.]

            Garnet- [My school counselor found out that I have a ‘job’.  I need to get a work permit approved ASAP.]

            Yellow Diamond- […I’ll come over to discuss how we are going to handle this.  Next time be more careful on who you mention your work to.]

            Garnet- [I didn’t have any issues the last two years, didn’t think it would be any different this year.]

            Yellow Diamond- [Well you obviously miscalculated.  I’ll be at your place at 7:00pm.]

            Garnet sat back and sighed.  She pushed her phone away and stared at the offending piece of paper yet again.  Rose already knew that Garnet “worked” for Information Link, a tech company that specializes in online data sharing and firewalls.  Yellow Diamond should have no issues working with that.  Covered eyes glanced at the clock.  Four hours before her guest was to arrive; plenty of time to work on her bothersome math homework.  She half considered inviting Pearl over, but tossed the idea.  Garnet still struggled internally with asking her intelligent friend for help in calculus.  Granted, Pearl was always more than willing to help and was always able to help her understand the material.  She just felt that she was asking for help more and more, almost like she couldn’t understand the concepts until Pearl had retaught them to her.  It was frustrating beyond measure.  Being a junior in calculus meant that she was supposed to be mathematically inclined, and the truth was that she was.  Algebra, trig, pre-cal, all of those classes were incredibly easy for her, but calculus was turning out to be a real stumbling block.  Garnet picked up her phone and opened her text messaging with Pearl.  Her fingers hovered over the digital keys.  A sharp exhale was forced out of her lungs as she tossed the electronic device to the side.  Large hands rubbed her face and tired eyes.  She could do this; she could figure it out.

            Hours later there was a brief knock at the door before it was opened and the regal figure walked into Garnet’s house.  Yellow Diamond was wearing a light grey pinstripe business suit with matching grey high heels.  The woman took a seat across from Garnet, setting her business case on the chair next to her.

            “How is the homework coming along?” she inquired.

            Garnet grunted and shrugged her shoulders, trying to finish the math problem before she lost her train of thought.  Yellow Diamond sat back and waited patiently.  A couple minutes later the curly haired teen looked up.

            “Sorry about that, needed to finish the problem.  Here is the form.  I told Mrs. Universe that I worked for Information Link,” Garnet greeted as she pushed the form to Yellow Diamond.

            The woman picked it up and looked it over.  “That would work best, after all that is my company and I can easily make the necessary arrangements on my end in case anyone pries.” As she began to fill out the form she continued.  “Your official title will be Security Guard Level 1, working in the evening weekend shifts.  Duties will be listed as patrolling the inner ground levels of the building and confronting trespassers when needed.  I will be listed as your manager, and if they have any questions I will handle them appropriately.”

            Garnet nodded.  “Thank you.”

            “Was there anything else you needed from me?” Yellow Diamond asked as she handed the darker teen the completed form.

            “No, that was it.  I’m about to heat up dinner actually,” Garnet looked up at the other woman.

            “I would love to stay for dinner, but I am needed back at the office, we are getting close to release the latest update to the information collaboration platform.  I need to be there in case things to haywire.”

            “I understand,” Garnet evenly responded.

            “I expect an update on the work permit, and I will see you this Saturday for your next match,” Yellow Diamond stated as she stood up and walked towards the door.

            Garnet simply returned her attention to her homework.  The tall businesswoman shot one last glance over her shoulder at Garnet before exiting the house.

 

            Pearl braced herself once again as she watched the machine whirr to life and lower the rapidly spinning cutting tool towards the partially machined block of titanium.  Peridot clung to the edge of the table, eyes not leaving the machine for a second.  A collective sigh of relief was let out as it began cutting away at the right spot and depth.  In a few minutes Pearl switched tools and watched as the second operation continued without error.  Twenty more minutes of this and they would be halfway done.

            “It’s really mesmerizing to watch,” Peridot muttered.

            The beginner machinist looked at the chips flying away from the cut surface like a sprinkler flinging water.

            “It is.”

            Once the program completed, Peridot took it out and tested out a number of the threaded holes with the screws she had brought with her.

            “How does it feel?” Pearl cautiously asked.

            “Good, nice and solid, they all fit,” Peridot grinned.

            “I’m glad.  So next we have the third operation which will be milling out the main cavity so you can insert your motors.  I’ll be going over the program today and tomorrow.  Then we can run it this coming Monday.  After that we just have one more operation.”

            Peridot nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AP exams are coming up, the work permit is due, and PROM is tomorrow! LOL


	19. Phase Two: Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will contain some stronger sensual themes. Though not anything to merit a rating change. For those of you who do not wish to read it I will signal the parts with /*** at the beginning and ***\ at the end.
> 
> But enjoy this chapter! It's a very long, but great chapter that I'm happy with how it turned out.

^^^^^^

Junior Prom

^^^^^^

 

            Black converse shoes tapped lightly on the office carpet.  Garnet breathed out and tried to remain patient as Rose finished talking with another student.  It took another ten agonizing minutes before the woman and the student appeared in the hallway.  Rose had on her usual wide cheerful smile and the student managed a small one before he left.  Garnet stood up and walked towards Rose.

            “Ah, Garnet!  Good to see you!”

            Garnet nodded.  “I think you know what I’m here about.”

            “Yes, I just got the fax this morning,” Rose briefly retreated to the file cabinets to pull out a sheet of paper.  “We’ll make sure to get you a copy so you can give it to your manager.  That won’t be too hard, I can imagine.”

            “No, she was just as eager to make sure everything got processed quickly.”

            The counselor made a copy of the work permit and handed the duplicate to Garnet.  “Well, you can now legally report to your shift tomorrow.”

            The curly haired teen smiled and nodded.  “Yes, thank you Rose, I appreciate your work on getting this taken care of so quickly.”

            “Of course, I’m here to help you be successful in your high school career.  If you ever need any help, don’t be afraid to ask.”

            Garnet simply waved and left the office with the piece of paper.  The fighter squared her shoulders and marched down the empty corridors towards her car.  Everything was taken care of so she could now focus her energy on winning her fight tomorrow night.

            _I will win._

            Long, black, smooth fabric flowed around Pearl’s ankles as she twirled in front of her full length mirror.  It shimmered slightly in the light and followed the subtle curves of her torso and hips, then fanned out slightly to accommodate leg movement.  The dress was a full length sleeveless gown with transparent straps to hold it up.  Attached on the back just below each shoulder blade was a length of translucent, shimmering, white, fabric.  They flowed freely from each side and stopped at the same point as the gown did.  Red hair was styled ever so slightly and adorned with small, cubic zirconia, silver pins.  It matched the glittery, silver jewelry around her neck and on her ears.  Light blue eyes stood out sharply as contrasting neutral tones were skillfully applied in her mascara and eyeshadow.  Pearl smiled and twirled again, she was excited for the night.

            “Pearl?  Are you ready?  Your father and I have something for you before we head out for Jasper’s house,” her mother called up the stairs.

            “Yes, coming!”  The teen grabbed her handbag and glided down the stairs.

            “Wow,” Mr. Tancerz blinked.  “My daughter, so stunningly beautiful, you’ve grown up so much,” he took her hand and spun her in a quick dance.  “It seems just like two months ago I was helping you get ready for your first dance recital, and now,” he just shook his head as his words failed him and tears pricked at his eyes.

            Mrs. Tancerz beamed with pride.  “You look absolutely wonderful, Pearl.”

            The red head smiled at her parents.  “Thank you, and thank you for the wonderful dress, I love it.”

            “Now before we head out, your father and I had a small present for you,” her mom quickly walked into the kitchen and brought out a medium sized plastic container.

            Inside the clear plastic container was a wrist corsage, in the center was a black dahlia in full bloom with two strands of baby’s breath coming out of the sides at an angle, one flowed up towards her arm while the other went towards her hand.  Pearl’s breath was caught in her throat as she carefully put on the beautiful arrangement.

            “We know traditionally your date gives you a corsage, but we wanted to give you one for prom,” Mr. Tancerz smiled.

            The teenager leaped forward and enveloped both of her parents in a tight hug as a tear ran down her cheek.  “Thank you, so much,” she whispered.  “You two are the best parents ever,” Pearl stated as she stepped back.

            The two adults smiled together.

            “Are you ready now?”

            Pearl glanced down at her corsage and nodded.  It had a small feeling of de ja vu for Pearl as they drove.  Here she was arriving at a friend’s house for pictures before they would head off for a night of dancing.  As she walked through Jasper’s house towards the backyard, she smiled at the memories she had of Homecoming.

            “Hello Pearl,” Peridot greeted her with a grin and an offered elbow.  Peridot stood tall in a two button, black, three-piece suit with a white blouse and a black bowtie.

            “Why hello Peridot, how courteous of you,” she lightly laughed as she took her elbow and let herself be escorted the rest of the way to the backyard.

            “My pleasure.”

            “No, no, let me escort you,” Amethyst appeared from the side, looping Pearl’s other arm with hers.

            Pearl blushed.  Amethyst flashed her a wide toothy smile.  Her friend was also wearing a black suit, white blouse, and black bowtie, but instead of a vest she had a black cummerbund.

            “My, well I’m sure it won’t be a problem if both of you escort me, now will there?”

            The two escorts had a silent staring contest.

            “No,” they replied in unison.

            Once in the backyard the two guided Pearl around to introduce her to each of the other teenagers that had already arrived.  Jenny wore a sleeveless, knee-length, black, silk dress that had a pattern of flower sequins wrapping around her torso.  The pattern started at one hip and ended on the opposite shoulder.  She gave Pearl a hug in greeting.  Sour Cream wore a black three-piece suit, with a black cummerbund like Amethyst, but a three button suit jacket.  He gave Pearl a high-five.  Buck wore a black three-piece suit and he had a vest, like Peridot.  White blouses and black bowties were a standard all around.  Buck also greeted Pearl with a high-five.  They approached Lapis who was wearing a black floor length gown that had a bare back, except for the fabric wrapping around her shoulders, and cut in slightly on the sides.  It was void of any design or pattern, just a simple dress that showed off her powerful swimmer’s back and had a slit to the knee.

            “That is everyone,” Amethyst said as she released Pearl’s arm.  “Well except for Jasper, she’s taking a little long getting ready.”

            “Which is unusual for her,” Peridot added, “Normally she is the first to arrive or to be ready to leave.”

            “I’m sure she’ll be down before too long,” Pearl reassured.

            The teenagers and parents all chatted amongst themselves and took random pictures with phones or cameras.  When Mr. Ganeva walked into the backyard they all turned to see if Jasper was with him.  He stood proudly and stepped to the side to reveal the muscular teen.  Everyone’s jaw dropped as they took in the sight.  Jasper stood wearing four inch black strapped heels with her hair out in it’s full wild glory.  She wore an ankle-length black gown that had a slit just past her knee cap.  The dress hugged her wide hips and curvaceous torso with a heart neckline.  The bodice had a mesh layer with sequins woven as swirls that extended up to her neck and out to the beginning of her shoulders.  Jasper gave them all a confident smirk and struck a pose.  Amethyst and Peridot ran over to quickly ask to be her escorts and introduce her to everyone.

            Pearl’s dad leaned over and spoke to her.

            “What was the theme for your group of friends again?  I’m seeing a lot of black and white.”

            “Oh it was like a super spy secret team theme, where we would all dress to kill for a black and white party,” the red head explained.

            “Ah.  I remember now.  Everyone looks very nice, though I think you look the best,” he whispered the last part.

            “Thanks Dad,” Pearl smiled.

            “No way!” A deep voice boomed behind them.  “My daughter definitely looks the best,” Mr. Ganeva challenged.

            Mr. Tancerz puffed up his considerably smaller frame.  Pearl decided to leave before she got caught in the middle.  As she walked away she could hear the two listing off reasons why their daughter was the best dressed out of the group.  Fortunately, the two fathers ended up agreeing to disagree on the topic before it got too out of hand.  In the time before the rented limo, everyone pitched in for, showed up they organized themselves for a series of group and solo photos.  Pearl’s favorite had to been the one where they all struck super spy poses, finger guns and all.  Evidently Lapis had hidden a large, fully loaded, water gun that she pulled out for the picture and half-jokingly threatened to soak a number of them.  Pearl was sure there were probably a good number of candid photos of all of them freaking out to this threat.  Peridot somehow ended up on Jasper’s shoulders, who then pulled her down and held the smaller of the two out like a human shield.  Amethyst exclaimed in jealously for not thinking of doing the same thing.  Jenny complimented Lapis on her idea and took a quick selfie with her and her gun.  Buck and Sour Cream stood ready to combat her and face their watery fate, while Pearl decided her best bet would be to hide behind a tree.

            By the time the limo had arrived everyone had made it inside without getting wet.  Lapis didn’t want to put a damper on anyone’s prom night.  The limo had the classic black style on the outside and had an elegant interior, matching well with their group’s theme.  Their chauffeur introduced himself and gave them a couple of bottles or sparkling grape juice to enjoy as they made their way to the dance.

            Junior Prom was held at one of the city’s classy event centers.  The building’s décor was complimented by the decorations that had been set up.  Gold, silver, and bronze color schemes were woven into the seats, table clothes, and stage.  The group of secret spies took their assigned table and began to idly chat as they waited for the food to be brought out.  Amethyst and Lapis dug into the bread and oil based dip presented.  The glasses wearing teen gushed about the progress on her robot to the cool kids.  Sour Cream made the suggestion of using the liquid inside of glow sticks to add an extra flare to her project, an idea the short teen whole heartedly agreed on.  Pearl talked with Jasper about her boxing and how much she was learning from watching the fights with Amethyst.  It took a while, but eventually the food was brought out for everyone to enjoy.  The dancer examined the dishes with a critical eye and nose, the advice from Rose Universe was fresh in her mind.  Half of the food was meat so Pearl was limited to the sautéed vegetables and oily pasta.  By combining the two items, her dinner turned out fairly well.

            Soon the tables where being cleared and pushed to the side to open up the dance floor.  Fast beats flooded the air as the mass of well-dressed teens gathered to dance to their hearts content.  Pearl had quite the time dancing in their group and with a couple of short dances with Amethyst, Lapis, and Jasper.  About two-thirds of the way through the night, their group decided to shake things up.  Everyone’s name was written on a piece of paper and tossed into a glass.  Each person then drew a name.  The mission was this, “kill” or tag the person on the paper before you got tagged out.  If you successfully “killed” someone, you got to take their paper and hunt down their target. Anyone who was “killed” was to report back to the designated area and wait until the last person was standing.  Lapis gave the word and the group split to hide themselves in the minute they got to.

            Pearl weaved herself into the throng of sweaty teenagers dancing to the music.  She would twirl around looking for her target while at the same time keeping an eye out for anyone trying to sneak up on her.  It didn’t take long to locate Jenny and maneuver behind her.  Before she was able to tag her Jenny lifted up her phone and noticed her in the background.  Pearl darted out and just barely missed Jenny’s elbow as she ran away.  In a split second the dancer caught up to her and tagged her shoulder.  The dark-skinned teenager let out an exasperated exclamation and handed over her piece of paper.  Pearl grinned and looked down at the name.  Buck was next.  Finding her next target didn’t take much time, sneaking up did though.  In the end she crept close enough so that she could fling a wadded up napkin at him.  The napkin hit him on the back and he turned in her direction.  He laughed off the method and surrendered his names.  Minutes wore on as Pearl was on high alert, any second now she could be attacked.  One glance at the area told her that only Lapis remained.  The dancer frowned and looked down at the names she had, none of them were Lapis.  Cold water splashed between her shoulder blades making her jump up and shriek in surprise.  The red head whirled around to see a smug Lapis pointing a small hand-sized water gun at her.  Pearl stared at her in confusion for a moment.  The swimmer showed off her names, “Pearl”, “Peridot”, “Sour Cream”, “Jasper” and “Lapis”.

            “How did you get your name?” Pearl asked as she surrendered her names and they walked over to the rest of the group.

            “I actually drew it from the glass, so I just decided to hang out and watch, but then I got bored and hit the next person I saw.  It just went from there.”

            “Maybe next time we’ll have to reshuffle if someone draws theirs,” Pearl chuckled.

            “Nah, it adds to the fun,” Lapis grinned.

            Amethyst and Jasper were in an argument on the limits of what can be thrown.  Evidently, Amethyst had thrown one of her shoes at Jasper.  While it was a hit, it didn’t make the muscular teen very happy.  Pearl could see who had gotten tagged by Lapis as well, sporting wet spots on their clothes or heads.  Unfortunately, they had to return to normal behavior as one of the chaperones came asking around about someone wielding a water gun.  The small offending device was discretely hidden in the handbag it had been smuggled in with.

            An hour later the group was waiting outside for their limo to come back and pick them up.  The ride home was full of singing, puns, and last minute pictures.  They wished each other good night as they parted ways.  Lapis dropped Pearl off at her house around 12:15am.  Before the dancer went inside to tell her parents about her exciting night she sent a quick text to Garnet.  Hopefully she was done with work and still wanted to meet up.

            Pearl- [Just got home from the dance.  Are you still up for spending some time together tonight?]

            Garnet- [Always, give me a half an hour.  Meet you in front of your place?]

            Pearl- [Yes :) See you soon]

            The dancer grinned and hummed as she walked into her home.

 

            A red stained tissue was tossed into the trashcan by the bathroom sink.  Garnet sighed as she examined her left eye.  It had gotten hit badly in her fight that night.  The barely healed skin had been split open once again, this time the cut ran farther around her orbital cavity.  Four stitches were needed instead of two.  She dabbed at her stitches once again, finally satisfied that they had stopped bleeding.  Multicolored irises glanced back at the calendar hanging in her room.  Her mind went back to the conversation she had after her win that night.

 

            “When do I fight next?” Garnet said through gritted teeth as Dr. Maheswaran cleaned out her skin split.

            “Next weekend,” Yellow Diamond simply stated.

            The fighter breathed out evenly and briefly closed her eyes.  “How many more am I fighting?”

            “Two.”

            Garnet barely suppressed her complaint.  “Is that it?” she said tersely,

            “Your next match is against one of Blue Diamond’s middle ring fighters.  Make sure you are ready,” the woman replied.

            Garnet looked away from her manager.

            “Her eye isn’t going to heal at this rate, nor is her side,” Dr. Maheswaran warned.  “Three fights in a row is more than anyone should have to do, let alone five.”

            “That is not your decision to make, that’s between me and my fighters.”

            “So I’m just one of your fighters then, huh?” Garnet bit out.

            Yellow Diamond turned to look at the teenager.  “You are my Champion, you are not just one of my fighters, you are the one I invest the most into financially and emotionally.”

            “Am I also the one you have fight the most?  I don’t see any of the others pulling back to back fights.”

            Yellow Diamond frowned.  “I thought you would be glad you get more opportunities to make payments.  Evidently not.”

            “I do appreciate the opportunities, but I also need to rest too.  Otherwise I’ll wear out and start losing matches.  We both don’t like it when that happens,” Garnet countered.

            “The other Diamonds want to test you.  They think that my decision to name you my Champion fighter last year was a mistake,” the businesswoman looked off to the side for a moment.  “They feel that I should have kept my previous Champion instead of changing it to you.”

            “So what, this is some sort of hazing then?  My Mum never had to-”

            “Ruby was never my Champion, she was a solid fighter that contributed to my unit, but she wasn’t my Champion,” Yellow Diamond cut Garnet off.

            The curly haired teen glared at the woman.

            “You’re a very talented fighter for your age and experience, Garnet.  Even better than your mother.  She would be proud of you.  Both Ruby and Sapphire would be.”

            Garnet’s scowl turned to mild surprise and curiosity.  “They would be?” she asked in a small unsure voice.

            “Yes.  They always wanted you to grow up and become a strong woman who could hold her own.  Why do you think Ruby wanted to teach you what she knew about fighting when you were younger?  Sapphire approved and encouraged you to look into different ways of protecting yourself aside from what Ruby taught you.  Your skills in boxing were founded by Ruby, while Sapphire’s advice pushed you to learn Brazilian jiu-jitsu.  They would be amazed at how well you’ve fought and what a powerful of a presence you are.” The tall woman took a step towards the dark skinned teenager.  “Garnet, you are my Champion because out of all of my other fighters you have proven yourself to be the one I can rely on the most.  Out of all of my other fighters you are the one I want to personally represent me.”

            Garnet blinked and looked down towards the floor, any remnants of her protest died as her mind processed what had been said.

_They’re proud of me?_

            “I am proud of you as well.  I know I don’t say it very often, but I am,” Yellow Diamond added.

            The fighter looked up at her manager, a small appreciative smile on her face.

            “Let’s not give those other diamonds the satisfaction they desire.  Prove to them that you are a force to be reckoned with.”

            Garnet took a deep breath.  “I will, Yellow Diamond.”

            The short-haired blonde woman smiled.  “I know you will.”  She turned to Dr. Maheswaran who had sat back during the conversation.  “Please stitch up Garnet’s eye and give her something to help with her side if you can.”

            “There’s not much that can be done with bruised ribs besides rest and ice, but I will make sure she has some before she leaves.  As for her eye, I’ll stitch it up, but it’s just going to get busted open again next week.”

            “I’ll be better about protecting it in my next match,” Garnet promised.  “Plus, it will have seven days to heal better than if it wasn’t.”

            Dr. Maheswaran sighed and pulled out the needed tools.  Satisfied with how the conversations ended, Yellow Diamond left the locker room with a simple “See you next week”.  The brown haired woman carefully fixed up Garnet.

            “I can understand that you want to pay off as much of your debt as soon as possible, but you need to slow down, pace it out.  If you do too much, you’ll get hurt.  Even more so than you are right now.  These injuries need to heal.”

            “I can do two more.  I’ve already done three.”

            “Your last two fights were against fighters from the low end of the middle ring, they’re only bound to get harder.”

            “I know.”

            “I wish I could bar you from any more matches until you heal properly,” the doctor continued.  “However, that is not within my power here.  If you came to me as a regular patient I could.”  She paused.  “There are other options for you, I know you’re a talented basketball player and could get a scholarship to a college or two.  You could take some time off, finish your education, and then finish paying this off with your job.”

            Garnet frowned.  “That will take years to do.  I don’t want to wait that long.  Not when this has been working well.”

            “I understand, just please think about other ways or options on how even this is managed.  I know you also want to prove yourself and perform well, but you need to set healthy boundaries with her.”  Dr. Maheswaran stared Garnet in the eyes.  “You know what she is doing is not healthy for you.”

            The fighter looked away not saying anything.

            “She can’t keep you fighting like this if you disagree and push back.”

            Garnet nodded slowly.

 

            Mismatched irises glanced down at the wrist watch for the time.

            [12:35am]

            A smile quirked on Garnet’s lips as she grabbed her keys and left the house.  The drive to Pearl’s house was done in silence, the tall teenager tapping the steering wheel in slight anxiety.  Would Pearl still be in her dress?  Mostly she just wanted to see Pearl, but it would be nice if she did get to see how it looked in person.  Garnet parked her car in front of the dancer’s house and got out.  A quick text was sent to Pearl letting her know that she had arrived.  Garnet enjoyed the cool air as she leaned against her car.  In a moment she heard the wooden door open and shut.  The curly haired teen turned to look at the approaching figure.  As the dim light from the street lights, stars, and partially visible moon lit up Pearl, Garnet’s mouth fell open in awe.  Approaching her was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.  From the way the black flowing dress accented her body structure, to the elegant and sharp make-up applied, to the way she was smiling brilliantly, Pearl was truly a sight to behold.  Garnet found herself at a loss for words.  She quickly glanced down at her outfit of jeans, a t-shirt, and her leather jacket.

_I am horribly underdressed._

 

            A soft chirp echoed from the red head’s phone.  Pearl quickly picked it up and examined the message.

            Garnet- [I’m here, just in front of your place.]

            She turned to her parents, luckily they had just finished talking about the dance.

            “Garnet is here,” she spoke up.  “She couldn’t make it to the dance so we wanted to spend some time together afterwards.”

            The two adults looked at each other.

            “Alright,” Mr. Tancerz started, “Go on and spend time with your date, just don’t go anywhere or stay out too late ok?”

            “At least be in by 1:30am,” her mother added.

            Pearl quickly nodded as she stood up and headed for the door.  She did her best to not run towards the tall teenager leaning against the familiar car.  Pearl’s smile grew as she noticed Garnet’s reaction upon seeing her.  Mouth hanging open, completely star struck.  Silently the dancer wished she could have seen the expression in Garnet’s eyes.  The last couple of steps she did a quick hop into a hug that Garnet easily caught.  Garnet laughed slightly in shock.  They held each other only for a moment before the taller of the two pushed her back to get a full look at her.

            “You look-” thick lips pursed as they searched for words.  “You’re so-” curly hairs shook lightly back and forth.  “I can’t…”  Garnet sighed in frustration.

            Pearl only smiled wider.

            “You’re so beautiful, I-I can’t find the words to properly describe wh-what I’m seeing.  You’re a goddess walking on this Earth…I-”

            The stuttering teen was cut off as Pearl pulled her in and pressed her lips firmly against Garnet’s.  She leaned back after a moment and grinned happily.  The dark skinned teen tried yet again to form a coherent word or sentence but failed to do so.  Hand gestures stopped mid movement before going a different direction.  Pearl took Garnet’s flailing hand and placed her other hand on Garnet’s upper back.  She then took a step forward and began to lead Garnet into a basic waltz.  The taller blushed and laughed hopelessly as she realized what was happening.  Her large hand was set on Pearl’s shoulder as she followed the dancer’s lead.  The two faced each other, not wanting to look away for an instance.  Pearl couldn’t help but be reminded of Homecoming as they danced on the sidewalk in front of her house.  Yet a difference could be felt, she was confident and comfortable with the tall teenager she was dancing with.  They moved fluidly together, Garnet following every twist and pull that Pearl lead her through.  The dancer twirled herself into Garnet’s strong arms and leaned back against her, the two swaying gently back and forth to the music in their minds.  Pearl could feel Garnet’s hot breath against the nape of her neck.  She closed her eyes for the moment letting herself get lost in the feeling.

            An idea popped into the dancer’s mind and she spun out of Garnet’s arms.  She took a bold step forward while pulling the other closer to her and adjusting Garnet’s hold on her so her hand was resting on Pearl’s upper back as well.  The curly haired teen regarded her with a slight tilt of her head.  Pearl took a step forward, nearly pushing Garnet’s leg back with her own.  Slowly she began to lead her dance partner through long close strides accompanied by quick rotations of her hips.  Forward and back, swivel to and fro, slight rotation to the left.  The first little bit was awkward, their legs would run into each other or go the opposite of the intended direction.  However, it didn’t take long for Garnet to catch onto the tango Pearl was leading her though and for them to find their rhythm.  Their heads and torsos were close together as their legs wove back and forth, taking steps to the side of each other or in between.  Short stride, hip twist, two long strides, step to the side, slow turn.  Pearl grinned and mixed it up again as she pushed Garnet out for a spin.  As she pulled the curly haired teenager in, she braced her hand against the middle of Garnet’s back and dipped her low, using her bent leg as another support to hold up the heavier dance partner.  She followed Garnet down and pressed their lips together.  /***As the kiss was held, the dancer turned her head slightly and opened her mouth to gently explore Garnet’s thick lips.  Garnet pushed up into the kiss and responded in kind, softly taking Pearl’s bottom lip between hers and sucking on it.***\  A twinge in Pearl’s arm informed her that she couldn’t hold Garnet in the dip much longer.  Reluctantly, the pale teenager pulled back and helped Garnet up into a standing position.  Their faces stayed mere inches apart the whole time.

            /***Pearl’s heart was pounding in her chest as she looked up into Garnet’s sunglasses.  A large hand slowly was raised up and rested on her cheek.  The curly haired teen leaned slightly forward as her thumb lightly brushed across Pearl’s lips.  Garnet swallowed thickly before she bumped their contrasting noses together.  They met in the middle with a heated kiss.  When the pale teen felt the tip of Garnet’s tongue dance across her lip, she didn’t hesitate to open up and deepen the kiss.  The blood coursing through her body turned into fire as her mind zeroed in on the feeling of kissing Garnet like this.  Bodies pressed closely together as one of Garnet’s hands was against Pearl’s back while the other still cupped her cheek.  Pearl reached up and tangled her fingers into the wild curls on Garnet’s head.  They slowly separated to catch their breath, lips swollen laced with heavy pants.***\  Pearl’s hands moved down to rest on the front of Garnet’s shoulders.  She looked up to meet Garnet’s gaze, but was stopped by the sunglasses once again.

            “May I?” she quietly asked as she raised a hand to the glasses.

            Garnet frowned for a brief second and looked to the left.  To the dancer’s excitement, the taller reached up and pulled the glasses away.  Pearl got a brief glance at the hazel and blue eyes before Garnet leaned forward and she was lost in another passionate kiss.  /***A slight tilt in their positioning could be felt as Pearl pushed Garnet against the side of her car.  Hands cautiously roamed each other’s back and sides leaving trails of electricity wherever they touched.  The miniscule space in between them was becoming bothersome to Pearl, she wanted to get closer, she wanted the barriers removed, she wanted…

_Woah!_

            Pearl pulled back from the kiss, took a steadying breath, and then rested her head against Garnet’s collarbone.  She listened to the curly haired teen’s rapid heartbeat as she tried to steady her own heavy breaths.  Light blue eyes closed as her body tried to cool down from making out with Garnet.  They stood there, just holding each other for the time being.  One of Pearl’s hands felt hotter than the other, her confusion was quickly erased as she realized that her hand had snuck itself underneath the other’s loose t-shirt and was pressed against the hot skin of Garnet’s lower back.  She discretely removed the wandering appendage and placed it on top of the fabric.***\  The dancer could feel Garnet tilt her head back and breathe out heavily into the cool night air.  She lightly laughed at herself.  A kiss was pressed against her cheek close to her ear.

            “What’s so funny?” Garnet’s deep voice rumbled in her ear.

            Pearl leaned back so she could look up at her crush, her cheeks covered in a furious blush.  “Is that how you play tonsil hockey?” she said with a light tease and a quirk in her eyebrow.

            The taller looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened in realization and her face heated up.  Garnet let out two booming laughs as she held Pearl tightly.  She leaned back down and whispered in Pearl’s ear.

            “Yes.  Did you have fun?”

            “Yes,” came her bashful reply.

            Pearl put her hands on either side of Garnet’s face and held her there so she could look into the eyes she hadn’t seen for months.  They sparkled with mirth and adoration.  She loved this, being able to look into Garnet’s eyes it was like being able to read a piece of her thoughts.  Something caught her eye, the blue one seemed different, but it was hard to tell in the lighting.  It wasn’t opened as much as the hazel one.  Pearl furrowed her brow and turned Garnet’s head so the light better played off her dark skin.  Her mouth fell open as she could make out the large black eye that was swallowing the outside half of Garnet’s eye and was seeping towards her nose.  Blue strands twinkled in the light and Pearl’s eyes noticed the stitches hiding in Garnet’s thick, well maintained eyebrows.  Garnet’s expression fell and her eyes asked Pearl what was bothering her.

            “What happened?” Pearl said in horror.  “Who did this to you?  Your eye…you need ice on this right away!”  She let go of Garnet’s face and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the house.

            “Wait, Pearl!” Garnet tried as she was dragged into the house.  “I’m fine, I’ll ice it when I get home.  I can-argh!”

            Pearl turned back at the pained grunt to see Garnet quickly putting on her sunglasses.

            “Oh, I’m so sorry!  I forgot about the lights,” the dancer quickly remembered.  She gently led Garnet into the living room and had her take a seat on one of the couches.  “Wait here, I’ll grab some ice for you.”

            Pearl grabbed a plastic bag and filled it with ice from the ice maker in the freezer.  As she walked back in she turned off the main kitchen light, leaving the low one on, and turned off the lights for the living room.

            “Is that dark enough for you?” she tentatively asked as she sat to the side of Garnet.

            The silent teen turned to face Pearl so her back was towards the kitchen light.  Slowly she removed the glasses, eyes opening up partially to test out the lighting, and then finally opening the rest of the way when she deemed it was dark enough.  Garnet looked off to the side.  Pearl silently offered the bag of ice to her.

            “Thanks,” Garnet quietly mumbled as she took it and pressed it against the large colorful bruise.

            Pearl worried her hands as they sat there.  She tried to think of how to ask about it without overstepping her bounds.

            “Was it work?” she eventually asked.

            Garnet nodded.

            “Was there like a break in or something?  Did you have to fight them off?  It doesn’t look very good.”

            “Yeah…”

            “Where do you go for this on call security job?  It must have a lot of problems if you keep on getting hurt.  You had that one on your chin not too long ago and now this,” Pearl gestured to Garnet’s eye.

            The dark skinned teen remained silent.

            “Please?” Pearl lightly pleaded.  “I’m worried about you.  If I knew what you were doing, then maybe I would feel better.”  She reached out with her pale hand and set it on top of Garnet’s hand that was resting on her muscular thigh.

            “It won’t,” Garnet stated.

            The red head sighed.  “Will you tell me anyway?  I want to know.”

            After a light pause, the taller teenager spoke, “I do security for a night club in the Embers Way district.  They call me in when someone cancels or they feel like they need an extra set of hands to manage the crowds.  Saturdays are their busiest nights, so that’s pretty much when I get called in.  There’s been some rowdy patrons lately that needed to be escorted out.”

            Pearl frowned and looked down.  Garnet was right, knowing did make her didn’t feel any better.  She held Garnet’s glasses in her hand, staring at them.  For getting punched in the face like that, these glasses had held up quite well.  Her brow furrowed as she examined them further.  There was no damage on them at all actually.

            “Are you allowed to wear your glasses at work?”

            “Yes.”

            “Then how did these not get damaged from the hit?” Pearl looked up at Garnet’s face.

            Garnet seemed surprised for a split second.  “They had been knocked off before I got this hit.  Couldn’t see because of all the bright lights flashing around me.  Luckily another security guard stepped in and we were able to kick them out before anyone else got hurt.”

            “That’s good I guess, but you got hurt…”

            The taller of the two shrugged.  “It’s part of the job.”

            “Does your manager know you got hurt?”

            Garnet nodded.  “That’s how I got my stitches, they took care of it.”

            “That’s responsible I guess.”  A frown pulled at the side of Pearl’s mouth as she looked away.

            “Hey,” Garnet called as she tipped Pearl’s head up so she could look at her in the eye.  “I got this under control, ok?”

            Pearl just sighed.

            “I’ve got some time off coming up soon, just a couple more weekends.  I’ll be fine.”

            “If you say so,” the pale teenager conceded.  “That doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry about you when you go to work.”

            “That’s because you care about me,” Garnet smiled.

            “I _do_ care about you,” Pearl stated, “a lot.”

            Garnet rested her forehead against Pearl’s.  “I care a lot about you too.”

            Pearl smiled softly as she hugged Garnet.

            “Now, tell me about Prom,” the taller changed topics as she pulled Pearl onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her from behind.  She loosened her hold as Pearl slightly stiffened at the movement.  “Oh…sorry, are you ok with this?”

            “Yeah,” Pearl blushed.  “You just surprised me that’s all,” she nervously laughed.

            “We can move back to how we were, whatever is most comfortable for you,” Garnet said seriously.

            Pearl leaned back and snuggled against the solid frame holding her.  “You’re pretty comfortable.”

            The darker teen’s face heated up; she then rested her chin on Pearl’s shoulder.  The dancer smiled and kissed the area on Garnet’s cheek that she could reach.  Pearl began to tell Garnet about the events and adventures of Junior Prom.  She pulled out her phone to show her the few pictures she had taken.  Garnet put her sunglasses back on so she could look at the screen.  The larger teen sat silently as she listened to Pearl describe how Lapis had snuck in a water gun to shoot people with, how Amethyst had eaten practically the whole first bowl of meatballs, and many more stories.  She was partially through the describing the limo to Garnet when the lights suddenly snapped on.  Both of them jumped and looked to see Mr. Tancerz standing in the kitchen leveling Garnet with a disapproving gaze.  The teen quickly and gently slid Pearl onto the couch and moved to the other side of the piece of furniture; a nervous smile plastered on her face.

            “Dad!” Pearl nervously smiled as well, her face beet red with embarrassment.

            “It’s just past 1:30am, I noticed Ms. Erutav’s car was still here and wanted to check on you two.”

            “Oh!  Right, sorry we just lost track of time.”

            “Well you should probably let her go, I bet she needs her rest, and so do you,” he said with a gentle yet stern tone.

            “Yes, you’re right.”  Pearl turned to Garnet.  “I’ll walk you to your car.”

            Garnet smiled and nodded.  They quickly left the house and walked towards the car.

            “And no dawdling!” Mr. Tancerz added from the doorway.

            Pearl groaned slightly.  Garnet smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

            “I enjoyed spending time with you tonight,” her low voice broke the awkward atmosphere.  “Thank you for having me over.”

            “Always, I had fun too.  See you on Monday?”

            Garnet nodded as she got into her car.  “See you Monday.”

            The dancer watched the car drive off before she walked up the pathway to the front door.  Her father was waiting for her on the other side of the door.  He leveled her with a serious gaze.

            “She’s quite comfortable with you, isn’t she?”

            Pearl’s face heated up.  “Well…we are both comfortable with each other…”

            Mr. Tancerz shook his head.  “You like her a lot don’t you?”

            “I do.”

            “Well, just be sure to take things slowly, I don’t want you to get hurt ok?”

            “I will, don’t worry.”

            “Oh I do,” he said as he pulled Pearl in for a hug.  “Both me and your mother do, but that’s because we love you.”

            “I love you too, Dad,” Pearl said as she hugged him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot happened in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Lapis was a lot of fun to write this chapter.
> 
> No flames for the tonsil hockey jokes, please, I couldn't help it.
> 
> Also due to some bad writers block I don't know if I will post a new chapter in a weeks time or not, we shall see if I can work through it.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	20. Phase Three: Exhaustion

^^^^^^

It’s a hectic week for Pearl as she works to finish the project with Peridot and prepare for the school dance show.  Garnet is tired.

^^^^^^

 

            Early Monday morning Pearl was in the small machine shop with Peridot setting up the third operation for the robot piece.  With only a few weeks left in the school year, both of them were feeling additional pressure to have everything work out as needed.

            “Alright, now this first operation we need a half inch end mill.  That’s going to make it easy to cut out the main cavity for everything to fit in,” Pearl began.

            “Ooo!  I got this, let me put it in,” the short teenager jumped with excitement.

            “Oh, ok, sure,” Pearl turned to the computer once again, watching the simulation.

            A couple of seconds passed as the short haired blonde looked through the shop.  “What does an end mill look like again?”

            “It is a cylinder made out of helixes,” the dancer replied still not looking away from the screen.

            “Ok!”  A few more seconds past.  “Found it!  Can I go ahead and load it?”

            “Sure.”

            “Locked and ready to go!”

            “Good, the simulation ran well, everything is loaded, we have our zero, and we have our tool,” Pearl glanced at the tool locked into the head of the machine.

            She hit the green button and the machine whirred to life, steadily lowering down the tool towards the part.  The dancer turned to watch, then noticed something was off.  The tool coming down did not have a flat bottom but instead had a point.  Quick hands slammed on the emergency stop shutting down the whole machine in an instant.

            “Hey what is going on?” Peridot protested.

            Pearl’s eyes were nearly bulging out of her sockets.  “That’s a half inch drill!  Not a half inch end mill!”

            “You said cylinder made out of helixes!”

            “An end mill has a flat bottom and is used for things like cutting cavities and profiles.  A drill simply goes down and cuts a hole the same size as it.  They’re not built to handle X and Y movements very well; only Z!”  Pearl quickly removed the drill and searched around for the half inch end mill.  Her frame was shaking horribly as her mind thought up all of the things that could have gone wrong.  “The drill would have broken, or the part would have been thrown out of the vice, it would have cut way too deep and ruined the whole thing…”

            Peridot just stared at her, now realizing what had almost happened.  “You know, how about I just let you find the tools from now on out?”

            Pearl walked back over with the correct tool in hand.  “I think that would be best, at least until you become more familiar with this stuff.”

            “Yeah…don’t want to have to start this whole process over again, OR have to buy that material again.  That would have been a nightmare,” she muttered the last sentence.

            It took several minutes for the machine to be set up once again.  With the correct tool in place, Pearl hit the green button again.  The two watched as the end mill was lowered and began to cut away the unnecessary material, both breathing out a collective sigh of relief.

            “Nice catch,” Peridot spoke up.

“Thanks.”

            Due to having to restart and setup the machine, both students were late to their math class.  Luckily, the shop teacher had given them a note explaining why they were tardy so they didn’t get detention.  Mr. Martin accepted the note and ushered them to their seats.  He wasn’t worried about his top two students in the class missing the first part of the lesson.  They would catch up quickly.

 

            The week went by quickly for Pearl, the fourth and final operation was completed on the part by Wednesday then her focus was turned 110% to the dance show that was on Friday and Saturday night.  Classes with Ms. Sardonyx would tend to run late as they ironed out the last few wrinkles in their dances.  After her lessons with Ms. Quartz, Pearl would be allowed stay after to run through her personal routine a couple of times.  It was normal to not get home and start on homework until nearly 6:00 at night.  On Thursday all participants for the dance show were required to stay after school to go through a complete dress rehearsal.  It took several hours and Pearl spent most of her time working on homework, and then the other half running around and changing costumes and dancing till it felt like her feet would fall off.  Once the dress rehearsal was complete Ms. Sardonyx charged all of the dancers to get a good night’s rest before arriving on time for the production the next two nights.

            In a blink of an eye Pearl was approaching the school theatre with her duffle bag around her shoulder, prepared for the long night.  She took a deep breath in and strode through the back stage doors into the chaos.  The two class routines Pearl was in went relatively well.  First night jitters got a couple of the other dancers and some of their transitions were not as seamless as they had been in practice.  Luckily, only someone familiar with the routine would have noticed the mistakes.  The pale teenager laced up her ballet shoes as she prepared for her solo routine.  Butterflies fluttered around in her stomach.  She breathed out evenly.

_I can do this.  I can do this routine in my sleep, just forget everyone is there and do what you love._

            “Up next we have Pearl Tancerz performing ‘Dance of the Swords’,” the first MC introduced.

            Mellow clapping from the audience made it’s way to Pearl’s ears as she crept around the dark stage to lay out her prop.  The curtains opened reveal to the dancer standing completely still in a modification of the 4th position with her eyes closed.  The piano tunes accompanied by a slight electronic mix filled the room.  A long, narrow, single-handed, sword was brought out to the front from where she was holding it behind her back.  She struck a pose, one hand out stretched with her palm facing out, while the weapon was poised overhead.  Ooo’s and ahhh’s came from the crowd as she spun and slashed at her imaginary opponent.  Graceful ballet movements flowed seamlessly with her sword as she made her way from one corner of the stage to the next.  Pearl could see herself in her mind’s eye.  Fire surrounding her as a large enemy stood tall brandishing their axe.  She would bend backwards to just barely miss their swing and then twirl and slide behind them cutting their leg down.  This wasn’t a battle she could win with just one hit, she had to wear down her opponent by outsmarting and outmaneuvering them.

            A blow from the blunt side of the axe sent her reeling backwards.  As she rolled her hand landed on her second identical sword and scooped it up.  An instant later she crossed the two swords in front of her to slow and redirect a would be fatal hit from that axe.  Strong legs pushed her onto her feet and she leaped forward taking the offensive.  The bulky axe and slow figure was no match her speed and agility, whenever they got close Pearl would just slip right through their fingers with an assemble or a pirouette.  Slowly the carefully calculated slices from the duel wielding dancer began to add up.  The gigantic figure fell to their knees.  The ballerina carefully parried the axe once again before striking out at the opening presented to their chest.  The music came to a dramatic end as Pearl stood there, eyes forward, left arm thrust straight in front of her, with her body weight mostly on her front foot, yet still well balanced.  Pearl’s opponent fell defeated to the ground and disappeared as the sounds of battle gave way to the thundering of applause.  For an instant the dancer looked around confused, her hands had a vice like grip on her two swords as she panted from the exertion.  A smile then made it’s way onto her face and she gracefully bowed towards the crowd, sweat dripping off her brow and chin.  The pale teen chuckled to herself as she exited the stage.  It was not the first time, nor will it be the last time she got caught up in her own world.  As she took a quick glance at her swords she wished for a moment that maybe they were real and that she could protect those she cared about with them.  Another chuckle made it past her lips as she shook off the random thought.

            After the show Pearl milled about the hundreds of students and parents as she looked for any familiar faces.

            “P!”

            She turned to see Amethyst running up to her.  The shorter, strong teenager wrapped her in a bone crushing hug.

            “That was awesome!  You were all like slice and dice, but you had this confident look all on your face like you could never lose.”

            Pearl blushed and laughed.  “Why thank you, Amethyst, I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

            “Enjoyed it?!” Peridot added from where she was partially hiding behind Jasper.  “You were terrifying; you could do some serious damage with those.” The glasses wearing teen eyed the plastic swords in the dancer’s hand.

            “Probably not too much more than a water gun or any other toy weapon,” Lapis smirked, obviously enjoying Peridot’s discomfort.  “Maybe next time I’m in need of more guts I’ll give you a call.”

            “Thanks,” Pearl smiled, her face heating up even more.  “Though I’m not sure how well I’d really fair in a fight…”

            “Nonsense, Pearl,” the British voice cut in, “There was definite fire in your eyes, whoever you were fighting didn’t stand a chance.”  Garnet stepped forward to give her a hug and a quick kiss on her cheek.

            Pearl grinned in spite of the unusual show of public affection.  Jasper cleared her throat.

            “We have something for you,” she said seriously.

            “Ok, should I close my eyes?”

            “Nah,” Jasper shrugged as she pulled out a large bouquet of flowers that were hidden behind her bulky frame.  Light blue eyes widened in surprise.  Tulips, tiger lilies, carnations, all sorts of flowers thrown together in a colorful display.  Pearl smiled even more as she saw one red rose tucked into the side.  She knew who picked that one out.

            “We all picked out these flowers for you,” Peridot exclaimed, “I picked the irises.”

            “Tiger lilies,” Jasper grinned.

            “Hydrangeas,” Lapis shrugged.

            “Carnations!” Amethyst shouted.

            Garnet just smiled.  “I took care of the rest.”

            “And paid for it too, what kind of allowance do you get?” Jasper raised an eyebrow at the dark teenager.

            I do work,” the other deadpanned.

            “Oh right,” the muscular teen smacked her forehead.

            “Thank you all, I love it, it’s a wonderful gift from the best group of friends ever,” Pearl thanked as she took in the scents from the various flowers.  

            “Where’s your parents?” Amethyst suddenly changed topics, her voice filled with urgency.  “Gotta keep an eye out for them.  G-man says your dad might not be too pleased to see her.”

            “I wonder why that may be,” Lapis remarked sarcastically.

            Garnet and Pearl both blushed.

            “N-nothing serious, we were just cuddling that’s all,” Pearl brushed off.  “Besides, they are coming to tomorrows performance, they wanted to see the final act.  So it worked well I guess to have you all come tonight.”

            “You’re safe for now!” Jasper boomed as she clapped Garnet across the back.

            The dark teen coughed and fell forward slightly from the unexpected contact.  Everyone laughed.  Pearl handed the bouquet over to Garnet so she could go get her bag from the dressing area.  When she came back with all of her things, Garnet offered the flowers back to her.  Instead of taking them, the red head grabbed the front of her shirt pulled her in for a lingering kiss that was eagerly returned.  They quickly broke apart when Amethyst playfully shouted, “YOU’RE IN PUBLIC, GEEZ!” only a couple moments later.  Pearl hid her embarrassment in Garnet’s shoulder as she took the bouquet back.  She sighed as she felt Garnet kiss her forehead and chuckle deeply.  It had been a successful night for her.

 

            Fusion grunted in pain as her opponent’s fist crashed against her left side once again.  They were taking advantage of her overprotectiveness of her left eye.  All it took was a quick fake and Fusion would have her arm up guarding that eye, thus leaving her injured side exposed.  The fight wore on as Fusion pushed back with an offensive attack, scoring a few hits.  Ten minutes into the match the two were on the ground fighting for position and opportunities to strike.  The dark fighter panted heavily as she worked to maintain her positioning.  Currently she was stuck in the other’s guard.  When it became clear that neither of them were going to do much, the ref stepped in to make them stand back up.  The crowds had been getting bored with the fight, their boos and insults resonated throughout the colosseum.  Fusion’s opponent charged at her going for her eye, but then changed at the last second to slam into her side.  The curly haired fighter bit down on her mouth guard and weaved away from the next strike.  Like lightening her long, powerful legs shot out delivering another roundhouse to their legs.  Seconds wore on, Fusion could see them dragging their leading leg around, slightly stumbling from all the hits it had taken thoroughout the fight.  Now it was time.  She took a deep breath and rushed in, throwing punches before diving down to wrap up both of their legs with her strong arms and drive them to the ground.  It only took a couple of moments before she was in control and rained down strikes from above.  The crowds cheered as her hand was raised yet again into the air and declared the victor by technical knock-out.

            A hiss escaped her lips as Dr. Maheswaran gently examined her bruised side.  The doctor frowned.

            “Well, you did manage to protect your eye, the stitches stayed in.  Though I’m not sure about your side, are you sure it’s going to last one more fight?” the woman seriously questioned.

            “It has to,” Garnet breathed out slowly.

            Dr. Maheswaran didn’t say anything for the moment and just continued to check over and clean up any other wounds.

            “No Yellow Diamond tonight?” the fighter broke the silence.

            “She said you already knew when your next fight was and that she had other things to attend to.”

            Garnet scoffed.  “No support for all I’m doing huh?  She could at least say thanks or something for winning.”

            The doctor stood back, her brow creased in worry.  “Are you sure your side will hold for this next match?  It’s in the Iron Pit.”

            Garnet nodded, swallowing heavily.

            A sigh was pushed from Dr. Maheswaran’s lips.  “That’s all I can do for you right now, you know the drill, ice, rest, and deep breaths when you can manage.”

            Another nod.

            “Take care, I'll be back with some ice for you in a couple of minutes.  After that you're good to go home,” Dr. Maheswaran finished.

            “Thank you.”

            The curly haired fighter stood up and looked at herself in the mirror above the sink.  She looked battered and exhausted.  Bruises from weeks ago could still be barely seen, bags were under her eyes, and she looked thinner.  Garnet frowned.  All of those times she just didn’t feel like eating due to either waves of nausea or lack of energy to do so had begun to slowly add up.  The person who looked back at her didn’t look like the confident captain that had helped her team win the state championship.  No, this person looked like someone trapped under the weight of the world, unable to remove her burden, and with only enough strength to barely hold it up.  Anger boiled inside of her.

_She could have at least come and check on how I’m doing!  I can’t keep this up!  What’s so damn important that she couldn’t have spared two minutes to come and see me!?_

            A thought occurred to her, bringing a moment of clarity.  She could say no.  She could not come to her match next week; she could rest instead.  Long legs strode towards the sink, trembling hands braced against the porcelain bowl.  Tight curls fell into her peripheral vision as she stared down at the faucet.

_It’s the last one, I can do this.  After this I will get to rest.  It’s for them, my mothers.  I can’t let them down._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter, but it's to set up the next several chapters that will be much more dramatic. I know I said I might not post this week, but it's safe to post this chapter. The others, 21 and above, will be much more dramatic and intense and won't be posted until I've figure out exactly how I am going to finish the story.
> 
> I listened to Dance of the Swords the entire time I was writing Pearl's dance. It was really fun.
> 
> Also a piece of trivia. In this story I headcannon Garnet being about 190lbs at her normal healthy weight due to her height and muscle mass/body structure. At this point in the story she's about 175lbs, so she's lost a lot of weight she really didn't have to loose.


	21. Close Yet So Far Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small warning: There are a couple of kissing moments in the chapter. They have the same tags as before, but its borderline on if they even need it or not. /***(kissing stuff)***\
> 
> Basically, read what you want and what you're comfortable with.

^^^^^^

Garnet and Pearl study together.

^^^^^^

 

            Pearl smiled as she stepped into her math class early Tuesday morning for the first time in a few weeks.  Light blue eyes scanned the area to land on the reclined figure.  Her smile widened and she walked over to sit next to the figure.  Pearl opened her mouth to greet Garnet, but stopped when she realized how relaxed her posture was.  Thick curls tilted to the side as Garnet was leaning back in her chair, hands hanging down towards the ground and her long legs extended out under the desk.  A soft quiet snore could be made out as her chest rose and fell to the rhythm of her breathing.  The dancer softly smiled and quietly took out her notes.

            _She must be really tired._

As it got closer to the start of class and all of the other students filled their seats, Pearl noticed a shift in her sleeping companion.  Garnet lowly groaned, sat up gingerly, and softly rubbed her eyes under her sunglasses.

            “Pearl?” the groggy accented voice finally spoke up.

            “Good morning, Garnet,” Pearl happily greeted her.

            “What time is it?”

            “7:41, class is about to start.”

            “Ugh, sorry, you should have woken me up so you didn’t have to sit there all to yourself.”

            “I don’t mind,” Pearl brushed off, “Besides you looked like you needed your sleep anyways.”

            “Thanks,” Garnet said bashfully.  “Next class, we can talk like before.”

            “I would love that,” Pearl grinned as she stood up to move to her seat.

 

            Lunch time was more interesting than usual, Peridot had brought her mostly complete robot to their table and was testing out the controls while making slight adjustments.  She would test it out by having it lift various pieces of paper, food, and an occasional book.  Everyone was entranced by the 8” tall and 8” wide robot with it’s strong arms and stubby legs.  Pearl was especially proud when she identified the large breast plate as the piece that she had worked on tirelessly with Peridot.  Eventually the robot was put away so Peridot could actually eat her lunch.  It didn’t take long for Lapis to sneak it out and use it to almost take Jasper’s unattended food.

            “LAZULI!” Jasper roared as she yanked her food away from the robot.  “Swim season is over!”

            “Hey, you weren’t watching, plus your backpack was too heavy.  What do you have in there?  Bricks?” Lapis shrugged nonchalantly.

            “Books,” Jasper frowned.

            “Same difference.”

            “What are you two doing with my things!!” Peridot finally realized.  “I put that away!”

            Pearl laughed as she watched her friends spin into another one of their fights.

 

            Tired eyes blinked one more time as they continued to examine the math problems in front of them.  Pearl yawned and leaned back in the kitchen chair; stretching just a little.  Just off to her side, Garnet was faring no better, the dark teenager looked like she was about to fall face first into her book.

            “Let’s take a break, Pearl,” Garnet decided.  “I’m not going to get any more of this into my head right now.”

            “But, we’ve got so much more to cover, the AP exam is in six days, and-”

            “You can keep studying if you want, I’m going to go take a quick cat nap,” the other shrugged as she stood up and walked over to her couch and laid down on her right side.

            Pearl shrugged and relocated herself to sitting on the floor in front of the couch.  Garnet’s hand ruffled her short hair.  The red head swatted the hand away and gave the teen a playful glare for distracting her.  The curly haired teen simply smirked.  Pearl returned her attention to her notes.  It only felt like it had only been a couple of minutes and she was already fighting to keep her eyes open.  Pearl stood up, checking her phone for the time.  9:18pm.

            _Maybe I should head home and get some rest…_

She turned her attention to the still figure on the couch.

            “Garnet,” Pearl whispered.  “I’m going to head home and get some sleep.”

            A hand reached out and took ahold of hers, gently tugging her towards the soft furniture.

            “Stay,” Garnet asked quietly.

            “I…” Pearl tried to think of a good response.  She really didn’t want to leave just yet, especially since they both had been really busy the past couple of weeks and hadn’t spent as much time together one on one.

            “Just for a little bit, get a quick rest before you go home.”

            Pearl smiled softly.  “Ok.”  She turned off the kitchen and living room lights before laying down on the couch facing the other occupant.  “Are you ok with this?” she timidly asked.

            Thick lips turned upwards.  “Yes.  Are you ok with this?” Garnet responded as she pulled her a little closer and draped her arm around her smaller back.

            “Yes,” the pale teen blushed.

            Garnet removed her sunglasses, placed a quick peck on Pearl’s nose, and breathed out evenly as she began to fall back asleep.

            “Just a little nap,” she sleepily promised.

            Pearl smiled and ran her fingers through Garnet’s curly hair briefly before closing her eyes as well, enjoying the comfortable embrace.

 

            Steady vibrations and chirps pulled the pale teenager out of her dreamless sleep.  She shifted, surprised to find herself closer to Garnet than she remembered being originally.  Their legs were tangled together while Pearl had pushed herself against Garnet’s front, curling into the warmth of both of the dark teen’s strong arms that were now wrapped around her.  Her arms were around Garnet’s sides and the one underneath the heavier body had fallen asleep.  Part of her bangs ruffled lightly has the deep breaths from Garnet’s lungs passed across the side of her face.  It was insanely comfortable, aside from the numb arm; Pearl did not want to move from this position.  She closed her eyes and was about to return to her sleep when her phone began to ring with the pattern that was assigned to her parents.  Any drowsiness was burned away as panic flooded her system.  Pearl abruptly pushed off Garnet and lunged for the device laying on the floor.  She grabbed her phone just as the call was missed.  2 missed calls, several texts.  Light blue eyes widened as they noticed the time.  12:14am.  She was way passed her curfew, her parents were going to be very upset.

            “I’m sorry, Garnet, I overslept, I gotta-”

            Pearl’s voice died off as her phone’s light illuminated Garnet.  The dark teenager was breathing heavily, eyes shut tight, hand pressed against her left side, with her whole body curled into the fetal position.

            “Are you ok?” her voice laced with concern.

            “Yes,” came the pained reply.

            Pearl didn’t believe it for a second.  “You don’t look ok…”

            “I’m fine,” Garnet managed.  She took a deep breath and then inadvertently let a pained groan slip past her lips as she exhaled.

            “You don’t sound ok,” Pearl stated.  The phone in her hand vibrated again.

            Dad- [Are you alright Pearl?  It’s late, are you still at Garnet’s?]

            The dancer frowned, she couldn’t leave right now.  Something was up.

            Pearl- [Yes, I’ll be home soon, sorry!]

            After sending the message she pushed any thoughts of her upset parents out of her mind, right now someone else very important to her needed help.  She set the phone on the ground as she crouched down to Garnet’s eye level.  In the dim lighting, light eyes examined the spot that was most likely causing the pain.  Garnet’s side, she must have hit it when scrambling for her phone.

            “Garnet?  What’s wrong?  Did I hurt you?”

            “No, it wasn’t you,” Garnet quickly countered.

            _So she is hurt._

            “Did I bother your side?”

            The curly haired teen closed her mouth and just stared into the couch.

            “Garnet, are you hurt?”

            “No, I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” she stubbornly stated.

            “You look like you’re in a lot of pain, did you get another injury from work?” she tried again, attempting to work with the other’s current behavior.

            “No,” Garnet denied.

            “But you’re holding your side and you are literally curled into a ball right now, Garnet.  You can’t convince me that something is not wrong,” her patience was wearing thin on this.

            “I’m just a little sore that’s all.”

            “From what?”

            “…. Weights.”

            “Don’t lie to me,” Pearl harshly whispered, her voice choking with frustration and tears pricking at the edges of her eyes.

            The curly haired teen’s eyes widened in surprise.  “Pearl, I-I didn’t mean to upset you, I just-”

            Pearl held up her hand.  “Please just answer me honestly.”  The red head took a deep breath.  “Do you have an injury that was aggravated by me just a few minutes ago?”

            Silence stretched around them as Garnet fought an internal debate.

            “Yes,” the taller teen finally admitted.

            Pearl let out a sigh of relief.  “Thank you.  May I see it?”

            “What?”

            “May I see your injury?” she restated.

            Hazel and blue eyes looked into the couch again.  “It’s not easy to look at, are you ready for that?”

            “Yes,” Pearl nodded, mentally preparing herself.

            _It’s not the first time, it can’t be that bad._

            “Ok…”

            When the other didn’t make any movements to show the injury, the pale teenager gently took Garnet’s hands and pulled her to her feet, tugging her towards the kitchen light.  Pearl released the hands to turn the light on, using the dimmer to keep it to a level that wouldn’t bother Garnet’s unprotected eyes.  She stood in front of the taller, waiting patiently.  The dark teenager breathed out heavily.

            “Are you sure you want to see?”

            “Yes.”

            Garnet nodded and then began to pull the left side of her tank top up, she pushed her arm through the hole and rested the bunched up fabric on the left shoulder.  She gingerly lifted her arm and laid it atop of her head so Pearl could easily see.  The dancer covered her mouth in shock as her eyes saw her injury.  On her left side, Garnet’s beautiful dark skin was marred with horrible discolorations of dark blue, purple, maroon, and hints of yellow.  Pearl slowly reached out and ghosted her fingers over the bruise that went from the base of Garnet’s armpit, ran under her bra, stopped just past the bottom of her ribcage, and wrapped around her side.  Words left the pale teen’s tongue as she tried to comprehend the extent of the injury.

            _How long has she been hiding this?!  How?  What happened!?_

            Pearl glanced up at Garnet’s face.  The tall teenager was looking away, her eyes shone with both shame and frustration.  Pearl’s expression softened.  She gently held Garnet’s good side as she leaned forward to press a couple of light kisses on various spots of the large bruise.  Light blue eyes looked up once again.  They were met by hazel and blue eyes staring down at her in shock.

            “To help it feel better,” she quietly supplied as she stood up straight.

            Pearl could see tears forming in the corner of Garnet’s eyes.  /***The taller teenager cupped the red head’s cheek, pulled her in, and kissed her desperately.  The dancer closed her eyes and returned the kiss, trying to convey how much she cared for her and how worried she was for her wellbeing.  Bodies were pressed firmly against each other as they held tightly onto one another.***\ Garnet eventually broke the kiss and pressed her face into the crook of Pearl’s neck, large hands gripping bunches of fabric from the back of her shirt.  /***Pearl’s mind and body were dizzy from the prolonged and open kiss.***\  Silent sobs shook Garnet’s frame as the pale teenager could feel hot tears falling onto her shirt and exposed neck.  Pearl rubbed Garnet’s back as she continued to cry.  Far away, the dancer’s phone rang once again.  Pearl didn’t even consider moving to check who it was.  Silent sobs slowly eased into even short breaths as the last of Garnet's tears fell.  The dark teenager stepped back after a couple of minutes and composed herself, wiping away the remains of her tears with the heel of her hand.  The dancer noted that while Garnet’s left eye looked better than it had over a week ago, there was still a noticeable black eye.

            “Sorry,” Garnet muttered.

            “Don’t be,” Pearl consoled.

            After a long moment of silence Pearl spoke up.

            “Was it from work?”

            “Yes.”

            Pearl sighed in relief at the straight answer.

            “What happened?”

            “A few customers were being rowdy and we had to remove them, they fought back and I got hurt as a result.”

            “How long ago was this?”

            Garnet was quiet for a few seconds.  “A couple weeks ago.”

            Pearl was about to say something when Garnet continued.

            “It just keeps on getting hit at work, I’ve been working so much that it hasn’t been able to heal properly.”

            The frustration was evident in her tone.

            “Does your manager know?”

            “Yes,” Garnet admitted with some hesitation.

            “Can’t you ask for some time off then?  It’s a work related injury.  What exactly is hurt?  Is it just some bad bruising, or something more?”

            “It’s actually a couple of bruised ribs.”

            “Garnet!  That’s not good at all, have you seen a doctor?”

            “It’s been looked at…”

            “And did they inform your manager that you need some time off?”

            “Yes, but I can’t get any time off.  Not right now,” Garnet looked away.

            “Why not?” Pearl protested.  “You’re injured!  It’s only getting worse by you working these shifts, don’t they see how much you are hurting?”

            The curly haired teen simply shrugged, her mouth pulled down into a serious frown.  Pearl frowned as well.

            “Do you work this weekend?”

            “Yes.”

            Pearl breathed out heavily and hugged Garnet carefully, making sure not to push against her side.  “Can you try to get it off?  I’m worried about you; I don’t want it to get worse.”

            “I can’t,” Garnet finalized.

            The pale teenager wanted to shout out and tell Garnet that she didn’t have to, that she could take the time off and rest, but she had the feeling that it wouldn’t help.  It had been hard enough to Garnet to open up about the injury, she would risk pushing her too much by lecturing her and telling her how to manage herself.  It frustrated Pearl to no end that there wasn’t anything she could do to help Garnet.  She couldn’t talk to her manager, or her parents, or her absent guardian.  There wasn’t anyone she could talk to.  Pearl sighed in defeat.

            “Will you text me after work on Saturday?  Let me know you’re ok?”

            “Yes.”

            “Thank you.”

            /***Garnet pulled her in for a slower kiss, softly thanking her for her understanding and trying to convince her that she would be ok.  Pearl gently pulled back, ending the lingering kiss by softly sucking on Garnet’s swollen bottom lip. ***\ The phone rang once again, cutting through the comfortable atmosphere surrounding the two.  The taller teenager looked down at Pearl.

            “What time is it?”

            “I don’t know,” Pearl shrugged, “Last I checked it was 12:14am…”

            Garnet’s eyes widened.  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kept you-”

            “No, I’m glad I stayed,” Pearl cut her off.  “Thank you for opening up to me and letting me know what is going on.  Don’t worry, I’m sure my parents will understand, we didn’t do anything besides fall asleep and well…” the dancer pursed her swollen lips.  “I can handle it.”

            “Alright,” Garnet hesitantly agreed.  “But if you need me to back you up or anything, please let me know.  You shouldn’t get punished because of me.”

            Pearl smiled and gave her crush a quick kiss on the lips.  She then gathered all of her belongings and headed out to her car closely followed by Garnet.

            “Take care, see you tomorrow?” Pearl asked.

            “Yes, you too,” Garnet smiled.

            A few minutes later Pearl walked up to her front door and unlocked it.  When she stepped in, both of her parents were there sitting on the stairwell waiting for her.  They stood up and greeted her with brief hugs.

            “We were worried about you,” her mother began, “You didn’t respond and it was way past your curfew.  What happened?”

            “I fell asleep on the couch with Garnet, that’s all.  We were both really tired from studying for our AP exams.”

            “That’s all?” her father questioned skeptically, pointedly glancing down at her lips.

            Pearl’s face burned with embarrassment.  “Th-that happened after we woke up,” she squeaked.  “N-nothing more than that.  I promise!”

            Her mother and father had a silent conversation.

            “Things aren’t moving too fast for you are they?” her mother asked with concern.

            “N-no, n-not at all, I mean that’s not the first time we’ve-” Pearl stopped talking as both of her parent’s eyebrows raised up in surprise.  The red head rubbed the back of her neck nervously.  “She’s very attractive, I-I enjoy the time I spend with her, I-” Pearl gave up trying to explain herself and just shrugged with a helpless smile on her face.

            Mr. Tancerz pinched the bridge of his nose, while Mrs. Tancerz lightly smiled and slowly nodded in understanding.

            “As long as you both are in agreement, don’t feel pressured to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” her father eventually spoke up.

            “I will,” Pearl quickly agreed.

            “Go on up to bed, you look tired,” her mother allowed.  “Get some rest before school tomorrow.  And since you didn’t intentionally stay late we aren’t going to ground you, but we will be stricter on you setting a time when you will be home by whenever you go over to her house.”

            “Thank you.”  Pearl quickly hugged both of her parents.  “I love you both, thank you for understanding.”

            They nodded and smiled.  As the pale teenager headed up the stairs she overheard her father speaking his mind.

            “I want to strangle that Erutav girl, where are her parents while all of this is happening?!  What kind of family rules does she have to answer to?”

            “I know, Honey, maybe we should get to know her family a little better, since it seems that our daughter is heavily interested in her.”

            “We should probably do that soon, maybe a dinner or something?”

            Pearl shook the panic out of her mind at the topic her parents were discussing, she needed to get to sleep.  She would worry about that later.


	22. Phase Four: Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is rated M for graphic depictions of violence! I will block out the main scene in the left margin with the following. I will provide a short description of what happens at the end notes for those who don't want to read it.
> 
> /***
> 
> (violent stuff)
> 
> ***\

^^^^^^

Jasper learns more about the rankings in the Ember Colosseum, while Garnet steps up once again for another fight.

^^^^^^

 

            Friday was a long day for Pearl.  She didn’t sleep well after she had gotten home late that morning.  It was hard to focus on her lectures since her mind kept going back to the discussion she had with Garnet.  The bruise stood out in her mind’s eye and she couldn’t accept the fact that Garnet would return again to work yet again tomorrow night.  In all honesty she wanted to talk to someone about the dark teen's injuries, but she was torn between respecting Garnet’s privacy and finding someone that could actually help.  An individual who could help Garnet get the medical attention she needed and possibly help her get time off of work so she could heal.  Unfortunately, that meant her other friends wouldn’t be adequate sources to open up to.  They definitely would want to help, especially Amethyst, but she didn’t think they could help Garnet with work and she could easily see Garnet shutting them all out or worse lashing out in the betrayal of trust.

            As the final bell of the day rang Pearl headed out towards the parking lot, head cast down and brow furrowed in frustration.  Light blue eyes caught sight of the office building off to her right.

            _“And you can talk to me about topics other than academics, if you ever felt the need to talk about something and didn’t know who to go to.”_

The world came to a screeching halt as Rose’s words from so long ago popped into her mind.  Pearl’s heart pounded in her ears as she ran towards the office building hoping with all her might that the friendly woman would still be there.  She forced the doors open a little harder than she intended to, making the remaining front desk lady turn and stare at her with concern.

            “Is Rose still here?” Pearl shot out between heavy breaths.

            “Yes, is everything alright?” The woman inquired.

            The dancer quickly composed herself.  “Oh, um yes, I just need to talk to her that’s all.”

            “Well, we are closing up everything up for the weekend-” The lady began.

            “I heard my name, what’s going on?” Rose Universe stepped into the foyer.

            “Rose!” Pearl smiled.

            “Oh, hello Pearl,” The large woman greeted.  “Can I help you?”

            “May I speak with you privately?  It’s important,” the pale teen fidgeted.

            “We are closing up, Rose,” the office lady interjected.

            “Would it be ok if we spoke on Monday about this?” Rose asked Pearl.

            “No, I need to talk about it as soon as possible.  I’m really worried,” the student practically begged.

            “Please give us a few minutes, Ms. Tancerz wouldn’t have come to me if it wasn’t important,” Rose Universe turned to the front desk lady.

            “Alright,” the woman waved, “But only a few minutes, I have to leave soon and everyone else has gone.  No one sticks around on Fridays.”

            “Thank you,” Rose smiled.  “Now, Pearl, let’s step into my office and you can tell me what is on your mind.”

            Pearl quickly nodded.  They walked into the small room and took their respective seats.  Rose waited patiently for Pearl to begin, resting her thick arms on the desk, intertwining her fingers.  Suddenly, the thin teen felt her frame seize up and become cold and clammy.  She shook as she realized that she was intentionally breaking the trust Garnet had given to her.  Thin arms wrapped around the slender frame trying to provide some stability in going forward with this.

            _It’s to help her!_

            “Pearl?  Is everything ok?” Rose’s voice was laced with concern.

            “No.  No it’s not.”  Pearl was struggling to form words; they just weren’t wanting to come out.

            “Are you in danger?  Is someone hurting you?”

            “I’m not hurt,” the dancer got out.

            “Alright, then what is it?” Rose tried calmly.

            “Garnet.”

            “Garnet Erutav?”

            “Yes, she’s hurt bad!” Pearl practically yelled, panic seeping into her system.  “Her whole side is bruised and has been for weeks!”  There was no stopping now, it just flooded out of her system.  “We were cuddling last night and I pushed too hard on her side and she was in a lot of pain, it took a lot of work to get her to tell me that she had gotten hurt at work, and this hasn’t been the first time, there was this time a month ago that her lip had stitches and a nasty bruise, then the black eye and more stitches.  She keeps on getting hurt at work and her manager just keeps on calling her in to work despite how much pain she is in!  And now she has yet another shift tomorrow and I’m worried that she’s going to get hurt even more.”  Pearl breathed out and slowly calmed down visibly with each breath.  She looked up to see Rose staring at her with wide eyes.

            “Let me make sure I understand what you’ve explained,” the large woman said with a soothing voice.  “Garnet is getting hurt at work and she has been hiding it at the same time her injuries keep on getting worse, correct?”

            “Yes.  She said that she has two bruised ribs.  I looked it up and those take some considerable time to heal and lots of rest, which I know she hasn’t been getting.”

            Rose frowned.  “I had no idea that her security job would be that dangerous…you would think that a place like that just needed an extra set of eyes to fill a rotation.”

            Pearl stared at Rose in confusion.  “From what I know of where she works I can understand why she gets hurt, it’s not the best of areas.”

            It was Rose’s turn to look at the other in confusion.  “Pearl, where does Garnet work?”

            “She’s never told me the specifics, but she told me that she works as on-call security for a night club in the Embers Way district.  Evidently it’s a very rough place since she keeps on having to kick out rowdy customers that fight back,” the student explained with discontent.

            “Please stay here for a moment, I’ll be right back,” Rose motioned as she stood up and walked out of the room.

            Pearl watched the woman leave.  She heard the front desk lady ask if they were close to being done, Rose promised only a few more minutes.  The closing of a metal cabinet sounded through the quiet building.  Rose appeared a couple seconds later with a paper in her hand and a crease in her eyebrows.

            “So Garnet told you that she works for a night club in the Embers Way district?”

            “Yes,” the red head nodded.

            The woman let out a big sigh.  “That doesn’t match with her work permit.  It says here that she works for Information Link.  Everything checked out when it was processed.  I had no idea that they were having troubles with keeping their company safe.”

            Pearl furrowed her brow and picked up the work permit to read it over.  Rose opened her mouth to stop her for the sake of Garnet’s privacy, but it was too late.  The student frowned, there it was signed by both Garnet and her manager.  Garnet was working for Information Link.

            _No that can’t be right, they wouldn’t have a level 1 security guard handling massive break-ins they would have a professional._

“Mrs. Universe, I need to close up and go, my son is waiting for me to pick him up!” the lady from the office called.

            “Alright!  Just a moment,” Rose replied loudly.  “I’m very sorry Pearl we have to go.  We will try to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.  In the meantime, try to get a name or location of where she told you she works.  Or maybe even the name of the doctor that gave her the stitches.  Can we meet on Monday?  I’ll call you in as soon as I can.”

            “Yes.  But please, help her get taken care of, I feel like her injuries haven’t been properly looked at.”

            “I will do what I can.  Keep in touch with her, alright?”

            “I will,” Pearl firmly nodded.  She placed the paper down, her eyes deciphering the signature of the manager just barely.

            _Why do I feel like I’ve seen that name before?_

They left the office and wished each other a good weekend with promises of meeting back up the coming Monday to figure out what was going on.  As Pearl walked to her car one thought kept running through her mind.

            _Garnet is lying._

Her gut sank at the realization.  She didn’t know to whom Garnet was lying, but Pearl had a feeling that getting the truth out about this would be even harder than getting her to admit to her injury.  The dancer closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.

            _There’s no going back now.  I’m sorry Garnet, I’m doing this because I care about you._

            Three teenagers idly chatted away as they put away their notes and books.  Jasper leaned back in her chair.  Lapis and Peridot had already left, and Amethyst was standing to leave.

            “Yo Amethyst,” she called out.  “Want to go to the fights tonight?  It’s been a couple of weeks.”

            “Yeah sure, I’m down,” Amethyst yawned.

            “What about you two?” Jasper turned to Pearl and Garnet.

            “I don’t think I’ll be able to go, my parents most likely won’t give their permission,” Pearl said anxiously.

            Garnet didn’t respond and just finished packing her bag.

            “Fine, I’ll check with the blue and green nerds to see if they won’t be a bunch of party poopers,” Jasper grumbled.

            “I’m sorry, I just got a lot on my mind, that’s all,” Pearl looked away.

            “See you all Monday,” Garnet waved.

            “Bye!” Jasper and Amethyst said in unison.

            The buff teen watched as Pearl followed Garnet to the door, giving the darker teen a prolonged hug.  Light hazel eyes narrowed as she noticed the evident worry etched into Pearl’s body language.

            “Everything alright, Pearl?” Jasper asked as the pale teen walked back over to her bag.

            “Yes, everything’s fine,” Pearl half-heartedly smiled.

            “Ok…” Jasper replied.  The thin teenager wasn’t a very good liar.

            “So meet you at the usual time then J?” Amethyst broke in.

            “Yeah,” Jasper grinned.  “It’s going to be a good night.  Get some relaxation in right before our big exams.”

 

            A few hours later Jasper and Amethyst walked into The Ember Colosseum, welcoming the sights and sounds of the place.  They took their usual seats up in the reserved section and ordered a fair amount of food.

            “Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen!” one of the usual announcers began.  “We have another set of good fights for you lined up.  We will be starting off with a number of exciting matchups and ending with a fight in the Iron Pit, so make sure to stay and not miss out on any of it!”

            “A pit fight huh?” Jasper turned to Amethyst.  “I’ve been wanting to see one.  Looks like tonight is my lucky night.”

            “Looks like it Jasper,” Amethyst grinned.  “I know I usually don’t stay, but I’ll stay this time so you don’t have to wander home alone,” she laughed.

            The buff teen frowned.  “Thanks…”

            “Now for our first match of the evening we have a fighter from the lower ring, Blood Beard, facing off against one of Red Diamond’s middle ring fighters, Acid Trip.  If Blood Beard wins this fight he will be eligible to move up in the rankings and become a middle ring fighter!” the second announcer’s voice boomed through the speakers.

            “I’ve been meaning to ask you a couple of questions, Amethyst,” Jasper turned to her friend as the announcers continued to work up the crowd.  “What’s with the rings?  Is it some way of categorizing the fighters?”

            “Oh that.  Yeah, the lower ring is like your beginner to amateur level fighters, the middle ring is experienced amateurs to semi-professional, and then the upper ring are professional level fighters.  They use it to create match ups that are more even and have an easy way of ranking the large number of fighters that come and compete here.”

            “How far do people travel to fight here?” Jasper asked incredulously.

            The tan teen shrugged.  “Probably a couple of states, from what I understand a good portion of the Northeast.  Though not too far out.  It has gotten more popular, but it’s still kind of a local deal.”

            “Oh.  I see.”

            They turned their attention to the hexagonal platform where the two fighters, Blood Beard and Acid Trip were facing off.

            “So if this dude wins he can move up to the middle ring?”

            “Yeah, if a fighter has a large enough winning percentage at their current ring, the Diamonds will usually offer a fight to let them prove that they can handle being moved up in the rings.  They’re pretty good about making sure the right people get moved up and others get booted down when they can’t handle their competition.  Everyone wants to strive to be an upper ring fighter, they get the most benefits.  Better pay, better seats, more experienced athletic trainers, warm-up rooms, personal lockers, the only ones who have it better than the top upper ring fighters are the four Champions.”

            “I’ve heard of those a number of times, the Champions, there’s one for each Diamond right?  And they all are upper ring fighters?”

            “All except for Yellow Diamond, hers is in the middle ring actually.”

            “What?  Isn’t that against the rules?  Wait,” Jasper paused.  “What is a Champion exactly?”

            Amethyst breathed out and folded her hands behind her head.  “It’s not super well defined.  Mostly they are just figure heads that represent one of the Diamonds.  They basically are the Diamond’s favored fighter.  They tend to be the most skilled of all the other fighters under that one Diamond.  I think if one of the Diamonds get in a fight with another they will have their Champions face off to settle things, but maybe that’s just a rumor.  I’ve never actually heard of one of those type of matches.”

            “So do the Champions ever face off then?”

            “Yeah, from time to time, well, Blue’s, White’s, and Red’s do, Yellow’s can’t because she’s in the middle ring.”

            “And the other Diamonds are ok with that?”

            Amethyst shrugged.  “I honestly don’t know.  There was a bit of backlash at the switch Yellow Diamond made, but with how successful her Champion has been I think they’ve stopped.  If anything they are probably getting ready to move her up in rings.”

            “Oh…man I thought the Champions would be much more interesting than that!” Jasper huffed.

            The shorter laughed heartily.  “Oh don’t get too peeved about it, whenever there is a fight between two of the Champions you are in for a real treat, those fights are amazing to watch!  I’ve seen only two.  One between Red and Blue, Blue won, and then one between White and Blue, White won.”

            “What about Yellow?  Are their fights worth watching?”

            Amethyst paused for a moment, deep in thought.  “I enjoy watching Fusion’s matches, she is actually my favorite fighter.  Though it’s always hard to watch when she loses.”

            “Fusion, eh?”

            “Yeah that’s the name of Yellow Diamond’s Champion.”

            “Weird name,” Jasper muttered.

            Amethyst just laughed.

            The two teens enjoyed the various matches set up for the night.  They would make guesses on how each one would go, betting pieces of food on their outcomes.  It was a fun, a great way to relax from the stressful week.  Jasper sat back and sighed contently as the platform was cleared and the cage was lowered down.  The bars clanged together as the locks on each side were engaged, sending a foreboding ring throughout the colosseum.  The buff teen swallowed nervously.  Was she ready for this?  Light hazel eyes noticed an innocent object sitting in the now locked ring.  A metal folding chair sat on one side of the platform.  She turned to Amethyst.

            “Dude, there’s a chair in there.”

            “Yeah, this is going to be an intense one,” a slightly anxious smirk graced her tan face.

            “Now for the match you have all been waiting for!  The last match of the night!  Tonight Jaw Breaker will be facing off against none other than Yellow Diamond’s Champion FUSION!!”

            “Alright,” Jasper smirked as she playfully elbowed her friend, “You get to see your favorite fighter complete tonight.” The taller teens smirk fell as she looked at Amethyst.

            The platinum blonde looked pale, her large hands were gripping the arm rests as she was staring at the ground.

            “Woah, you ok?”

            “She didn’t tell me she was fighting,” Amethyst muttered to herself.

            Jasper frowned, she didn’t quite catch everything her friend had said, the crowd had started cheering as Jaw Breaker made her way into the cage.

            “What was that?”

            Amethyst turned to her, the look of panic on her face was quickly pushed away.  “Nothing!” she said with a fake laugh.  “Just excited to see my girl beat the snot out of Jaw Breaker.”

            The theme music changed and the platinum blonde whirled towards the Iron Pit.  Jasper frowned, she could tell she wasn’t going to get her friend’s attention until after the match.  It did seem odd that Amethyst was more worried than excited to see her favorite fighter in action.  From their eye level seating Jasper got to easily see who Fusion was.  Her stomach jumped as Fusion looked disturbingly similar to someone she knew.  Dark rich skin, wild afro pulled into a bun, huge legs, especially the thighs, toned arms, and a serious face that was looking more at the ground than her opponent.  However, she wasn’t 100% sure, Garnet couldn’t see well in bright lights, and Fusion was not wearing any eye protection.  One glance at the screens above gave Jasper a good view at Fusion’s eyes.  One eye was a light hazel, while the other was blue and lightly bruised.  Jasper frowned, she honestly had no idea what Garnet’s eye color was.

            “Hey, Amethyst,” she nudged her tense friend.  “Is it me or does Fusion look an awful lot like Garnet?”

            “I know right?!?” Amethyst laughed awkwardly, “We joke all the time about how Fusion is like a weird doppelganger for Garnet.  Though not a bad doppelganger, Fusion’s pretty good.”

            “Yeah…” Jasper didn’t trust what her shorter friend was saying.  She knew how Garnet moved, and Fusion moved the exact same way.  Something fishy was going on here.

 

/***

            Warming up before the fight had felt like she was breaking a layer of rust off of her body.  Painful, yet soothing as she became ready for her match.  Like usual, a sheen of sweat had coated her skin by the time she had stepped into the cage.  Fusion’s side hurt, but her blue eye was doing much better.  Jaw Breaker paced around on the other side of the hexagon, fixing Fusion with a murderous gaze.  Fusion rolled her shoulders and shook out her hands.  Jaw breaker had easily thirty pounds on her, she’s wasn’t as lean as or as fast as Fusion, but her size radiated power and durability.  Brown hair weaved into three long braids that ran down her back adorned Jaw Breaker’s head.  The curly haired fighter glanced at the metal chair sitting off to their side and frowned.  First things first, she was to make sure Jaw Breaker didn’t get her hands on that.

            “Remember!  Don’t stay in her range, she’ll pummel you no matter how many times she gets hit,” Fusion’s corner shouted at her.  “Close in, attack, then move away.  And make sure she doesn’t get that chair or it’s a whole different fight.”

            Fusion nodded, readying her fists as the ref called them to the center of the ring.

            “You know the rules, only a knock-out will win end the match.  Back to your corners!”

            They quickly back pedaled to their spots, a second later the ref signaled for the beginning of the match.  Fusion took off in a sprint towards the chair, grabbing it as Jaw Breaker was just steps behind her.  In one quick movement she folded the chair and threw it towards the other side of the hexagon.  A fist came into her field of vision.  Fusion’s body instinctively weaved out of the way as her body positioned itself between her opponent and the chair.  Jaw Breaker would try to push Fusion back or make a movement to break for the chair, but the dark fighter kept her in the corner of the cage, methodically wearing her down with kicks and swift combos.  Despite being weary from all of her matches in a row, Fusion had an obvious skill advantage over Jaw Breaker.  In the five minutes they traded punches in the half of the ring, Jaw Breaker had only managed to land a couple of decent hits.

            As Fusion jumped in for another combo at Jaw Breakers low body, the larger fighter dropped down to her eye level and grinned widely.  Suddenly the curly haired fighter’s vision was filled with bright flashes of light.  She staggered back, trying to regain her bearings as her eyes screamed at her.  A large fist crashed into her sternum encouraging her retreat; forcing the air out of her lungs.  Fusion closed her eyes and weaved randomly, trying to give her eyes a couple of seconds to recover.

            “She’s heading for the chair!” her corner shouted at her above the noise of the crowds.

            Fusion forced her eyes open to see Jaw Breaker three steps away from the metal weapon.  Powerful legs pushed off in a dead sprint.  The tan fighter bent down to pick up the chair as Fusion lowered her shoulder and tackled her hard, sending the both of them into the unforgiving metal bars.  The smaller fighter was able to use Jaw Breaker as a human shield for the impact, thus giving her the precious seconds to try and take control of the ground fight.  Unfortunately, Jaw Breaker slipped out of her grasp and was on her feet faster than Fusion had expected.  They now stood there hovering over one side of the metal chair.  One couldn’t risk going for it while the other could easily attack.  Fusion made a fake towards the chair and Jaw Breaker lunged with a powerful cross.  The dark fighter slipped under the punch and delivered a body shaking hit to the gut.  The bigger fighter stumbled back and Fusion pushed forward scoring multiple hits in the close quarters.  Gloved hands grabbed the sides of Fusion’s face and quickly forced her to look up, ignoring any hits her body and face were getting to do so.  Fusion was so surprised by this that she didn’t close her eyes quickly enough and she was left stumbling around as the bright lights exploded her vision leaving trails of involuntary tears in it’s wake.

            “Looks like Fusion is having trouble keeping her eyes open, Jaw Breaker seems to have some nice LEDs installed into her mouth guard.  Now I know a lot of you think that’s unfair, but it’s within the rules, since it is not specifically outlawed it is legal,” the first announcer commented.

            Boos and cheers ran through the colosseum, depending on which fighter the patrons were rooting for.

            “She’s got the chair!  Open your eyes she’s on your right!” Fusion’s corner exclaimed urgently.

            Fusion opened her eyes just in time to see the broad side of the chair being swung at her.  She had barely enough time to leap to the side and avoid the hit.  However, she had to close her eyes again, they were hurting bad, everything was blurry with black spots jumping into her vision.  One second closed, one second open.  Fusion watched her opponent move like she was being lit up by a strobe light.  Fusion was slowly pushed into a corner as she avoided each swing of the chair.  The broadside of the metal chair came at her from the left.  She didn’t have anywhere to jump to so she tucked her head against her arm and prepared for the hit.  A wave shook through her body as the narrow edge of the chair crashed against her exposed side instead of the broadside.  Fusion gasped out in pain as something broke loose inside of her.  Nausea rolled up from her stomach and tried to force itself out of her mouth.  The dark fighter reeled, forcing down the bile while trying to keep her bearings.  A swift kick knocked her unstable feet out from under her and she was falling to the ground.

            “Get up! Get up!” her corner shouted.

            The next thing she saw was the chair swinging down towards her face like a golf club.  Darkness engulfed her vision for a moment before it dissipated leaving stars twinkling in front of everything.  Half of Fusion’s vision became coated in red.  Another tremor shook her disoriented body, as another part of her was broken loose by the narrow side of the chair.  She writhed in agony, barely able to breathe or form one coherent thought.

            “Roll!  Roll!  She’s swinging again.”

            Fusion bit down on her mouth guard and rolled one full rotation in just enough time to avoid the third strike to the ribs.  Jaw Breaker stepped back to get in position again.  The dark fighter opened her eyes for a second, seeing an ankle a mere foot and a half from her sprawled body.  She lunged forward, finding purchase on the back of Jaw Breaker’s ankle as her shoulder pushed against her shin.  A weaker strike from the chair landed on her back as the larger fighter lost her balance and fell onto her butt.  Fusion didn’t even bother to open her eyes, she just scampered up into position gaining mount as Jaw Breaker focused her energy on maintaining a hold on the dull metal weapon.

            “Cross arms in front and above!” Fusion heard her corner say.

            As she did she felt the chair crash against her forearms instead of her head.  For a brief second Fusion opened her eyes to see Jaw Breaker swing again at her from below.  Agile hands latched onto the folded chair as she pulled up a leg to kick away Jaw Breaker’s hold.  Angrily, Fusion threw the metal object a couple of feet away, ignoring the sickening protests from her side.  With the object now out of the way Fusion was on full attack mode, fists struck out furiously at Jaw Breaker’s face.  The bright lights flashed again and the dark fighter was able to shut her eyes just enough to avoid the bulk of it.

            The crowds were roaring in excitement at the dramatic turn of the fight.  Fusion closed her eyes and felt out her opponent’s head, she couldn’t risk opening them anymore.

            “Good! Very good!  Maintain that position and knock her out!  Don’t ever give that position up unless you have something better.”

            Jaw Breaker was guarding her face well.  The next elbow Fusion brought down mostly slipped due to the blood coating her forearm and Jaw Breaker’s face.  She could feel it dripping off of her chin in a steady stream, she was a mess.  A fist crashed against her broken side causing her to cry out in agony.

            _So that’s how you’re going to play it?_

“Protect that side!”

            Fusion struck out with her left arm, leaving her injured side open for attack.  Jaw Breaker took the bait, flinging her fist at the side once again.  Like lightening, Fusion trapped the arm against her injured side and quickly took hold of it, ignoring the blinding pain from doing so.  The dark fighter moved into the arm bar position, but was intentionally slow so her opponent would spin out of it and expose her back.  Fusion latched onto Jaw Breaker’s exposed back and formed a triangle around her body with her thick, powerful legs.  After locking the triangle into place she squeezed, distracting the now panicking fighter from her head.  Fusion wrapped her arm around Jaw Breaker’s neck and laid her other across the back of her opponent's neck, ratcheting in a solid blood choke.  Jaw Breaker tried in vain to pull her arms away or soften up her hold by striking out, but Fusion held firm; compressing both her arms and legs despite how much her body screamed at her from the effort.  Fusion closed her eyes and focused on one thing, making the body she was attached to stop moving.  After what seemed like an eternity, the ref was prying her off of the unconscious fighter and roughly shoving her away.

            The colosseum was in an uproar, drinks spilling over in either frustration or elation.  They cheered and hailed the winner of the match.

            “I can’t believe it!  What an amazing match by Fusion, we really thought she was a goner there, but she kept on fighting until the successful end!” the first announcer shouted into his microphone.

            “That is one test of grit.  Five matches in five weeks, two of which were in the Iron Pit, that is a first in the Ember Colosseum, Ladies and Gentlemen you are watch history being made right here.  Put your hands together and applaud Fusion on her victory, she certainly earned it,” the second added.

            Fusion groaned weakly and rolled onto her stomach, a familiar voice reached her ears.

            “Let me help you up, Fusion,” her corner spoke to her.

            She accepted his assistance and she regained her feet.  He took a step back to let her do her victory pose.  Both blood streaked arms were raised weakly into the air.  The crowd responded in turn chanting her name over and over again.  Once Jaw Breaker had regained consciousness, the ref took their wrists and officially proclaimed Fusion the winner of the match.  Fusion didn’t even bother shaking Jaw Breaker’s hand as she left the cage with the assistance of her corner.  The chair wasn’t something she put in there, but the lights in the mouth guard was a low blow.  If she wasn’t so exhausted and in so much pain she probably would have punched her a few times instead.  Her corner pressed a clean cloth against the gash across her left forehead to try and slow the bleeding.  Fusion’s eyes praised the darkness she was engulfed with as they entered the dim lighting underneath the stands.

***\           

 

            Jasper sat in her chair unmoving, eyes wide with shock as she watched the bloodied victor slowly exit the cage.  Any remaining appetite she had for her leftover food or drink had gone right out the window as she watched the brutal fight between Jaw Breaker and Fusion.  The first bit had been really cool, Fusion had displayed great skill, but as soon as that chair was put into the match things got nasty.  Her ears could still hear that strangled cry Fusion had made when she was hit in the side that second time.  Slowly she glanced to her left to gauge Amethyst's reaction.  Her friend was gripping bunches of her hair as a string of profanities flew from her mouth.

            “Is that how fights in the Iron Pit usually go?” Jasper finally spoke.

            “Fuck no, well sometimes, but shit that’s no good Ga- Fusion probably isn’t doing so well.  True she won, but she never needs help leaving.”

            Jasper’s eyes narrowed at the slip of Amethyst’s tongue.  “I think, I’m good on watching another Pit fight for a while, what about you?”

            “Yeah…I’m good.  Want to head out?  It’s going to be a bit busy, but we shouldn’t hang around.”

            The buff teen nodded.  “Yeah, don’t want stay around here too long.  Damn, Fusion still won even with all that.  Five matches in a row?  That can’t be easy on your body,” she continued as they made their way to the exit.

            “Yeah…” Amethyst agreed, her mind not completely with the conversation.

            The two walked back to their cars parked outside of Garnet’s house.  The taller of the two glanced at the dim residence.  Did Garnet have a work shift tonight?  Her car was there so maybe she didn’t have work or was already asleep.  It was nearing midnight.  Jasper frowned, she needed to confirm one thing and she wasn’t going to be able to ask Amethyst, she had a feeling that she wouldn’t get the truth from her.  As she drove back home she thought of how to pose the question and handle the potential aftermath of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the fight between Jaw Breaker and Fusion, Jaw Breaker breaks two of Fusion's ribs and give her a gash on the forehead. Jaw Breaker wore a mouth guard that had bright lights in it that she used to temporarily blind Fusion. Fusion won the match by choking out Jaw Breaker and listening to her corner.
> 
> Cliff hanger! Jasper is suspicious, and Pearl knows Garnet is lying about her work.


	23. Jaune Simmons

^^^^^^

Just who is the woman who is Garnet’s legal guardian?

^^^^^^

 

            Dr. Maheswaran was at Garnet’s side the instant she and her corner entered the large locker room, off to Garnet’s right Yellow Diamond stepped in to take the corner’s place in holding her up.

            “Careful,” Dr. Maheswaran warned as they maneuvered her to the wide bench and laid her down.

            Garnet cried out in pain, grasping at her side.

            “Don’t move too much and try to take steady breaths.  We need to remove your rash guard.  We are going to raise your hands up and pull it off quickly. Ok?”

            The fighter nodded in understanding.  In two painful seconds the bloody article of clothing was removed.

            Yellow Diamond breathed out a sigh of relief.  “No compound breaks, thank the stars.”

            “Keep pressure on that head wound while I check her side,” Dr. Maheswaran instructed the man.

            “Yes, ma’am.”

            Yellow Diamond grasped Garnet’s hand, holding onto it firmly.  She let out a shaky breath, staring at the tile floor.  The businesswoman grabbed one of the nearby towels and began to clean off the fighter’s arms and legs.  Quick hands removed the wrapping around the fingerless fighting gloves and pulled them off along with all of the wrappings underneath.  Dr. Maheswaran frowned deeply as she finished gently examining Garnet’s side.

            “She has at least two broken ribs, if not more.  We need to get that gash taken care of right away.  I should have enough materials, though I wasn’t expecting this at all.”

            “None of us were expecting this,” Yellow Diamond stated in shock.

            “Jaune,” a weak voice called out.

            The short-haired blonde turned her attention to Garnet.

            “When is my next fight?”

            She closed her eyes and shook her head, leaning close to the dark teen.  “No.  Not for a while.  Rest Garnet.  My stars I am so sorry.  You were amazing.  Please rest, we will take care of you.  I’m so sorry, I did this to you.”

            Garnet weakly nodded and then closed her eyes.

            “You can close your eyes, but please don’t fall asleep Garnet,” Dr. Maheswaran called out.  “I need to check you for a concussion first.”

            The doctor asked the standard questions, most of which Garnet failed.  She didn’t remember what day it was or when she was born or much else besides that she won her fight.  Yellow Diamond watched as Garnet slightly dozed off while Dr. Maheswaran began to stitch up the gash in Garnet’s forehead.  It ran from the outside edge of her eyebrow all the way to the middle lower portion of her forehead.  She refused to let go of the hand that was weakly holding hers back.  Rage crept through her guilt and concern.  There were many things that happened in that fight that were not accidental.  She gritted her teeth, white fire burning behind her light hazel eyes.

            “I need to go do some digging, I’ll be back shortly,” Yellow Diamond stated.  Her face softened as she looked down at Garnet.  “I’ll be back, I promise.  I’m so sorry, it wasn’t supposed to end like this.”

            She reluctantly released the hand and left.  Her two personal escorts stepped in position behind her once she exited the locker room.  Heeled feet clicked rapidly throughout the concrete passageways as she walked the memorized path to some of the other locker rooms.  It took only two minutes to find who she was looking for.  As she entered the room, the two guards posted themselves on either side of the entrance.

            “For someone who just lost a match, you don’t seem so upset,” Yellow Diamond coolly stated.

            Jaw Breaker looked up, obviously surprised at who had just walked in.  The fighter shrugged.

            “I can’t be too upset.  Yeah I lost, but to your Champion, so that’s not going to hurt my record too much.”

            “Who contacted you for this fight?”

            “No one.”

            “Really?  Then how would someone like you who doesn’t fight under any of the Diamonds or is even a well-known fighter find out or even get called in to fight in this series of matches?”

            “Look, they just paid me and told me when and who I would be fighting.  They never gave me a name or anything.”

            “Interesting…” Yellow Diamond’s eyes narrowed.  “How did you come upon this mouth guard?” She inquired as she plucked the object up from the bench.  “A very interesting design really.  Completely clear, excellent for ensuring that the lights installed in this weren’t obscured.”  Fingers pushed on the small buttons found in the grooves for the front teeth.

            She recoiled from the light that shot out.  Black dots jumped into her vision for a moment.  If that had bothered her, then to Garnet it must have felt like staring into a flood light.  Yellow Diamond reigned in the rage seething inside of her.  This was designed to specifically take advantage of Garnet’s condition.  No wonder she had been stumbling around blindly in the cage.

            “Look, lady, it was just in my locker when I got here, I didn’t make it or anything.  Do you think a dumb fighter like me could even think of something like this?” Jaw Breaker tried.

            “No, I know you didn’t make this.  I want to know who gave it to you.”

            “Like I said there was no name, just a note with some instructions on how it worked.”

            “And what did the note say?”

            Jaw Breaker shrugged.  “I don’t remember, my heads all fuzzy from being all passed out and all.”

            “Where is the note?”

            “I was told to get rid of it so I flushed it down the toilet.”

            Yellow Diamond narrowed her eyes at the younger woman.  “I’m sure you have at least some recollection of what the note said.”

            “Look lady, even if I did I’m not going to say.”

            The businesswoman took a swift step forward and seized the front of the fighter’s sweaty rash guard, pulling her so that their faces were mere inches away from each other.

            “What did the note say?” she demanded through gritted teeth.

            “Hey,” Jaw Breaker frowned, curling her hands into fists, “It’s probably not smart for an office lady like you to mess with me.  I can deliver quite a punch and I am not opposed to hurting anyone.”

            “And you think that someone who manages a multitude of fighters wouldn’t have any skill in the subject herself?”

            The brunette opened her mouth to speak at first and then closed it.  Uncertainty creeping into her eyes.  “I’m warning you,” she tried in a weaker tone.

            “Try me,” Yellow Diamond said in a dangerously low voice.  “You will find that I am very unforgiving to those who hurt Fusion.”

            Jaw Breaker’s confidence broke, she raised her hands up in surrender.  The blonde shoved the fighter back hard enough that she fell off the bench and onto the cold floor.

            “What did the note say!” Yellow Diamond sharply demanded.

            “It-it just said that Fusion can’t look into the light!  That’s all I swear!  There was a shit load of cash along with it in the box.  It took me a few minutes to even figure out how that mouth guard was going to help me in the fight.”

            “And you obviously had no qualms in using this instead of your regular mouth guard that would have fit you much better,” the tall woman coldly stated.

            “Hey, if it gave me an edge over a fighter that would have regularly wiped my ass across the platform, then I wasn’t going to turn it down!”

            Yellow Diamond regarded the pitiful fighter with contempt.  “I’m keeping this.  Keep your bribe, I have much bigger fish to fry than some lowly fighter without enough guts to fight someone on a level platform.”  She turned to leave, but then glanced over her shoulder for a moment.  “Keep in mind that Fusion beat you not only without using the chair, but also while being blinded by this _and_ fighting four weekends in a row before she faced you.  If you want to be able to compete in this arena, then you should probably take a note or two.”

            Yellow Diamond strode out of the room.  One of her guards stepped up and held out a small plastic bag.  The businesswoman dropped the mouth guard into the bag and placed it in a pocket inside of her suit.

            “Thank you, Charles.”

            “You’re welcome, ma’am.”

            Before she returned to Garnet’s locker room she thoroughly washed her hands in another sink.  She didn’t want any grime from that lame excuse for a fighter to remain on her.  Dr. Maheswaran was finishing up the last few stitches as she walked in.  Yellow Diamond returned to Garnet’s side, taking a hold of the teen’s hand.  She sighed heavily.  The chair, the mouth guard, someone was trying really hard to make Garnet lose the fight.  If it had been a more skilled fighter, that might have happened.

            Scenes from watching the fight up in the Diamond’s booth flashed vividly in her mind.  It had taken all of her composure to not shout out Garnet’s name as she watched her get beaten down in the cage.  Each hit vibrated through her consciousness, shouting at her that she was at fault for it.  She was the cause of each drop of blood Garnet had shed over the past five weeks.  She was the reason why Garnet was laying here barely conscious and in a world of pain.  Her greed had led her to take the tantalizing bet.  It was ridiculous one to make, but that was also why she agreed to it.  After Garnet’s loss in the five to one match, White had proposed to her betting that Fusion wouldn’t bounce back and that she couldn’t win four fights in a row against lower ranked fighters.  White used the evidence that she couldn’t even beat three lower ring fighters as a reason for betting against her.  White also stated that Fusion was not worthy of the title of Champion.  Yellow Diamond had been goaded, her emotions getting the better of her and wanting to prove that Garnet was indeed worthy of her title.  She had rationalized that in the end when Garnet won all four of the matches that she would be happy to have a large chunk of the house paid off.  The bet of one million dollars upon victory of all four matches was also insanely hard for her to pass up.  It wasn’t that she needed the money, no, but the rush, the adrenaline that coursed through her veins each time she would place down her money to bet on an outcome.  That feeling was hard to beat.  The bigger the risk the stronger the rush was.  Granted she did have to make up for all of the losses she sustained from her other fighters and the five on one match with Garnet, but in the end she more or less wanted to claim victory on such a bet and prove that Garnet was indeed worthy of her title.

            Yellow Diamond looked over the dark teenager yet again.  Dr. Maheswaran was applying the bandage over the line of stitches and carefully cleaning up her face.  She had been so consumed by the bet that she had forgotten she was supposed to take care of Garnet, not put her in mortal danger.  Yet Garnet had been willing, eager to prove herself, happy to knock off chunks of her debt with each win.  Garnet shouldn’t feel like she had to prove herself to her.  She was Garnet’s guardian, a type of adopted aunt, she shouldn’t have to earn her caring.  But here they were, the bet had been won, Garnet had proved herself to the Diamonds and Jaune, and Jaune had been blind to what had been happening all along.  White had ensured that the chair and mouth guard were in the match, she was sure of it.  Of all the other Diamonds White stood to lose the most, and had the biggest issue with Garnet being her Champion.

            “Her face is all taken care of, as for the ribs she needs to go to the hospital right away to get an x-ray.  We need to make sure that she didn’t puncture any of her organs and then I can decide if she needs surgery or can just heal on her own.  We should also do a CT scan as well to check on the trauma to her head,” Dr. Maheswaran’s voice broke into the businesswoman’s thoughts.

            Yellow Diamond looked up at her.  “Tonight?”

            Dr. Maheswaran stared at her incredulously.  “Do you want her to puncture a lung or slip into a coma while she sleeps?”

            “The emergency room will ask a lot of questions.”

            “Your hesitancy only proves how wrong this is.”

            Yellow Diamond looked away.  “You’re right.”  She took a deep breath.  “We’ll go to the emergency room.  First we will need to get Garnet washed off and changed into her street clothes.”

            Dr. Maheswaran reluctantly agreed.  “Was it worth it?” she said after a moment of silence.

            Yellow Diamond looked at her with confusion.

            “What you won, was it worth it?”

            “No,” she stated bitterly.

            The two stood there in silence, one on each side of Garnet; the man who was Garnet’s corner had left some time ago when he was no longer needed.

            “She isn’t eighteen yet, Jaune, what you put her through is nothing short of coercion and abuse.”

            “I forgot, sometimes she acts so maturely and handles everything so well on her own that I forget that she’s still my responsibility.”

            “That is not an excuse,” Dr. Maheswaran stated.

            “What are you going to do?  Report me?  You know that’s not what either of us want.”

            “That’s what you don’t want, Garnet may have a different opinion now, especially after what you put her through.”

            Yellow Diamond recoiled slightly from the truth.

            “Do you want to be the one who does that?  Be the one who removes her from the last of her family and throws her into foster care with a bunch of people who don’t love her?”

            “Is this how you show your love for someone?!” Dr. Maheswaran barely restrained her voice, she didn’t want to disturb the resting fighter.

            The businesswoman looked away.  “No.”

            It took some work but the two of them were able to wake up Garnet and help her take a quick shower.  While in the shower Garnet violently retched, coughing and sputtering as blood, bile, and the remains of her early dinner landed on the floor of the shower.  She cried out in pain from the involuntary movement, fresh tears running down the sides of her face as the water from the shower washed the vomit down the drain.  Jaune and Dr. Maheswaran supported Garnet, both cringing at how much she was hurting. After Garnet was ready they assisted her into Jaune’s car; setting her down in the fully reclined passenger seat.  The short-haired blonde carefully drove towards the hospital with Dr. Maheswaran following close behind.  When they arrived, Garnet was put into a wheel chair by a nurse and quickly moved to one of the hospital beds.

            “I’ve already taken care of the stitches, Garnet needs an x-ray of her left ribcage, and a CT scan of her head.  She has at least two broken bones and a concussion.  I want to know how much the bones have been displaced and at what level the internal bleeding is for her brain,” Dr. Maheswaran informed the nurse who was assigned to Garnet.

            “I understand.  Did you find her after she was…”

            “Garnet was involved in a fight in the Embers Way district.  I was nearby and was able to provide basic first aid.”

            “I see,” the nurse nodded.  “We will need to get her into a gown and then we can send her in for the x-ray and CT scan.  I just need to take her vitals first.  Was the attacker identified?”

            “We will see if Garnet remembers who attacked her,” Jaune spoke up.  “I didn’t see them.”

            Dr. Maheswaran frowned, and barely withheld her glare at the other woman.  The nurse turned toward her, waiting for her response.

            “Ms. Simmons was the one who called out for help, I heard and came as quickly as I could.”

            “Did either of you think to call 911?”

            “The police don’t go into the Embers Way district.  We had to get her out of there ourselves,” Jaune snapped.

            “I understand,” the nurse raised her hand up.  “Let me take Garnet’s vitals and then we can move on with her care.  It may take some time; would you like to rest in the waiting room Ms. Simmons?”

            “I’m staying with Garnet,” she stated as she turned to look at the resting figure that was silently listening to the whole exchange.

            “Alright,” the nurse said with a little force.

            After the nurse left, Dr. Maheswaran and Jaune helped Garnet strip down and change into a hospital gown.  Soon they were off to the radiology department for the x-ray.

             “Well it’s pretty clear here,” the radiologist started.  “Ms. Erutav has two closed compound fractures on her 7th and 8th ribs with hairline fractures on her 6th and 9th ribs.  She’s pretty lucky, they didn’t shift enough to puncture any of her internal organs, but they moved enough that she will need surgery to pull them back into place.”

            “Is the surgery something she can go in for tonight?” Jaune asked.

            “Most likely not, there’s too much swelling from the blunt force trauma, the surgery should be scheduled in a few days to allow for the swelling to go down.  That way the surgeon has an easier time seeing everything.”

            Jaune nodded.  “Do you have a surgeon you recommend for this area?” she asked Dr. Maheswaran.

            “Dr. Curtis.  He will do a good job on fixing Garnet’s ribs.”

            “If he’s not available in time, there are also a good number of surgeons that I know as well,” the radiologist added.

            “Thank you Dr.” Jaune nodded towards him.  “What care should be done in the mean time for Garnet?”

            “Painkillers, ice, rest, and avoiding shallow breathing.  We don’t want her to get pneumonia along with this.  Garnet’s physical activity will need to be restricted too, lifting, running, contact sports, or anything that would aggravate or cause a shift in the ribs.”

            “Understood.”

            The injured teenager was then wheeled into another room for the CT scan.  After a few minutes all three of them were back in the section of the emergency floor.

            “Well we have the news from the CT scan, you have a borderline severe concussion.  Recovery will be at least three weeks and up to a month or so.  However, your main symptoms should improve drastically over the next 72 hours with the limited exercise and rest,” Dr. Maheswaran addressed Garnet.

            Garnet barely nodded.

            “She will recover from it completely, right?” Jaune asked.

            “Yes.  Given rest and the proper care, Garnet will eventually be able to recover from all of these injuries,” Dr. Maheswaran frowned.  “However, she will be at a general higher risk of getting future concussions.  That just goes along with getting one in the first place.”

            “I’m tired.  When can I go home?” the dark teen eventually spoke.

            “Once you’ve been cleared by the emergency room doctor.  Even though they’ve let me be in charge mostly this night, the final say goes to the other doctor.  Until that time, I will write up a referral for Dr. Curtis and prescribe you some medication to help with your ribs.  Was there anything else you needed?”

            “A note for weights.”

            The doctor nodded.  “I’m going to go ahead and excuse you for the rest of the school year.  There’s only a few weeks left and you won’t be in any condition to participate before then.”

            “Thank you.”

            “Of course,” Dr. Maheswaran smiled.  “Jaune,” she turned to the pale woman. “Here is her prescription, you can go ahead and get it filled at the hospital pharmacy.”

            “Right now?” Jaune asked as she took the slip of paper.

            “It will be a little while before the emergency doctor comes back, so you have time.”

            “I’m not leaving Garnet.”

            “I’ll be here.  You’ll want to have the medication on hand for whenever what they given her wears off.”

            Jaune sighed and fixed the doctor with a stern gaze before turning to Garnet.  “I’ll be back soon.  There shouldn’t be much of a line at this time of night.”

            It was hard to tell if Garnet gave any indication either way.  The short-haired blonde stood up and quickly exited the curtained off area.  Dr. Maheswaran let go a big sigh of relief.  She could now talk to Garnet privately.

            “Good evening Garnet, and Dr. Maheswaran, how are things going?” the emergency doctor stepped in, followed by another woman.

            “Better,” Dr. Maheswaran replied, holding back her annoyance at being interrupted.

            Garnet shrugged.  “I feel well enough to leave.”

            “That’s good to hear.  Dr., may I speak with Garnet privately for a few minutes?  We have just a few questions for her before we decide it is safe for her to be released.”

            “Yes, of course,” she said slowly.  The dark woman stood up and exited the area.  She opted to stand near the center area where all of the computers and desks were to keep an eye on the curtain Garnet was behind.

 

            Garnet eyed both of the medical personnel now in her area from behind her sunglasses.

            “Garnet, I’d like to ask you about your injuries,” the doctor began.  “But before we begin, this is Suzanne, she is a Crisis Counselor here at the hospital.  Everything you say here will be kept 100% confidential.”

            The dark teen nodded.

            “So how did you get these injuries?”

            “I got in a fight in the Embers Way district,” Garnet replied monotonously.

            “We understand that part, but we aren’t sure that’s everything.  Mostly because some of your bruising, on your side and eye, are old.  Would you please explain that?”

            Garnet grumbled.  “Why do you need to know?  The injuries that I got tonight are being taken care of properly.  There’s nothing more to be concerned with.”

            “We just want to be sure that these injuries were only part of an accident and that none of them were intentional.”

            “Intentional?”

            “For example, if someone close to you was hurting or abusing you,” Suzanne added.

            “Why would you think that?”

            The two medical personnel exchanged a glance.

            “It’s a little odd for someone of your age to not only have these types of injuries, but also that you were brought in accompanied by your legal guardian and regular doctor,” the male doctor explained.

            Garnet closed her eyes and tried to think of a response.

            “There’s nothing to be concerned about.  Neither of them gave me these injuries.”

            The two nodded.

            “We just wanted to be sure,” Suzanne spoke up.  “If there is something going on, please know that either a hospital, police station, or fire department are all safe houses for you to go to.”

            “Can I be released now?  I really want to get into my own bed and rest.”

            “Yes, I’ll finish the paperwork and you’ll be released tonight,” the doctor said.

 

            Jaune arrived just as the two doctors were leaving Garnet’s area.  The businesswoman shot a concerned glace at Dr. Maheswaran as she walked over to Garnet’s bed.  The teen was already getting out her gown and working to get back into her clothes.  Dr. Maheswaran helped Garnet while Jaune ensured all of the remaining paperwork was filled out.  Soon the teen was back into her car and the two were on their way to Garnet’s house.  A few minutes later, Garnet was tucked into her bed fast asleep.  Jaune took out her phone and set her timer to go off in three hours.  Since the teen had a concussion she needed to be monitored for the first day or so, Jaune needed to make sure she woke up and didn’t accidentally slip into a coma.

            Long fingers ran themselves through blonde strands as Jaune sat at the kitchen table working through the mental shock of realizing what she had been putting Garnet through.

_I’m so sorry Garnet, I hope you can forgive me for what I’ve done to you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the question has been answered: Yellow Diamond's true identity is Jaune Simmons!
> 
> Geez, when did this story get so intense?


	24. Sorting Feelings and Information

^^^^^^

Garnet and Jaune begin a silent battle while Jasper sends a text to Pearl.

^^^^^^

 

            Dark bags hung under scrutinizing eyes as they checked the stew boiling on the stove, it still had some time to cook.  Jaune sighed and looked around at all of the various meals and dishes that had all been prepared throughout the night and morning.  Most of it would need to be frozen, Garnet wouldn’t be able to eat it all before it went bad.  Evidently the teen had gone grocery shopping not too long ago so there were plenty of supplies to work with.  Hopefully she didn’t mind.  If Garnet did, she would just replace what she had used.  Jaune frowned and put her hands on her hips.  This would never make up for it.  A low groan from Garnet’s room sent the guardian on high alert.  She quickly grabbed an ice pack from the freezer, the painkillers, and water before walking briskly into the room.  Garnet was awake and curled into the ball taking shallow breaths.

            “You need to take deep breaths when you can,” Jaune stated as she held out the ice pack.  “Too much shallow breathing and you’ll get a lung infection.”

            Mismatched eyes opened to glare at her in annoyance.  Garnet reached out and took the ice pack, gently laying it against her broken side.  A small thanks made it past her lips.

            “Can you grab some of my painkillers?” Garnet mumbled.  She breathed in a little deeper, but it was cut short as her face scrunched up in pain.

            “I have them right here.  You can take them, but you’ll need to eat something or you’ll get an upset stomach.  I’ve made some food.”

            The dark teen growled.  “I already feel like throwing up.”

            “Oh.  I can get you some soda crackers or something simple and see if that sits,” Jaune offered.

            “I don’t feel like eating anything,” Garnet said sharply.

            “You haven’t eaten since yesterday; you need something in you.  At least drink some water and try to eat something.”

            No response came from the figure laying down.  Jaune placed the glass of water on the nightstand along with the painkillers.  A low hum came from below.  Down in Garnet’s duffle bag was her phone.  Someone was texting her.  Jaune reached down and picked it up, setting it on the nightstand where Garnet could easily reach it.

            “Dr. Maheswaran contacted me this morning and would like to drop by today to visit you.”

            “Why?”

            “Just a check-up to make sure you’re improving.”

            “What time?”

            “Around five o’clock.  So we have about six hours.”

            Garnet nodded.

            “She also suggested that you sit up and walk around a little.  And please make sure to take some slow deep breaths every now and then.”

            The teen didn’t respond to the bit of advice.  Jaune simply nodded to herself and left the room.  She took one look around the kitchen and decided that her next task would be to clean up her mess and ensure that all of the food got stored properly.  It was something most people wouldn’t expect of her, being an exceptional cook.  Not only had she taken a few classes for fun, but since she’d lived on her own once she turned eighteen, she had learned how to cook well.  It also turned out to be a great way to distract her when she was stressed.

            About an hour later a slow figure appeared off to her left.

            “Garnet.  You’re up.”

            The curly haired teen glanced at her before making her way to the fridge to throw the warm ice pack in.  She pulled out another and turned to head back into her room.

            “At least try to eat something,” Jaune tried.

            “It’s too bright,” Garnet mumbled.

            “I’ll fix that.”  The tall woman quickly walked over and adjusted the dimmer to a level darker than what Garnet was usually ok with.  “I’ve made a number of things; the stew that just finished is pretty plain, you should be able to handle it even on an upset stomach.”

            The dark teen slowly made her way over to the table and sat down.  Jaune dished up a small bowl and set it in front of her.  Garnet took a couple of small sips from the broth.  The guardian retrieved the glass from Garnet’s room.  Glad to see it empty.  She refilled it and placed it by Garnet; who had begun slowly eating small scoops of the dish.  With the kitchen all tidy in just a few more minutes, Jaune then sat down across from the silent teen.

            “Why are you here?” Garnet eventually spoke up.

            “Because I care about you.”

            A scoff jumped past thick lips.  Jaune stared at Garnet incredulously.

            “You care about me?”

            “Yes.  I do.  I wanted to make sure you were ok.”

            “Then what about all those other times?  Is this what it takes for you to show your ‘care’ for me?”

            Jaune recoiled.  “No.  I just-”

            “Just what?”  Garnet glared at her.  “Not even that night I was beat down by three other fighters was enough for you to show your ‘care’ for me?  And what about each weekend since as I fought again and again for you?  So, it takes broken ribs for you to ‘care’?”

            “No, Garnet I’ve been-”

            “You’ve been gone.  I haven’t seen you outside of the colosseum since basketball season ended.  Minus the one time you came over to sort out the work permit so I could keep fighting for you.”

            Before Jaune could say anything Garnet continued.

            “I have my AP tests this week.  How the fuck am I going to be able to concentrate when I won’t be allowed to bring in any ice packs?  I won’t be able to be on medication because what I’m prescribed will not help me stay alert or focus,” she stated as she motioned to her side.

            “What do you want me to do then?” Jaune tried.

            “Leave.”

            “What?”

            “Leave,” Garnet coldly ordered.

            “I’m not going to leave you; you still need someone to monitor you for at least another day.”

            “I said leave,” the injured teen said through gritted teeth.

            “I’m not leaving.  Not this time,” Jaune fought back.

            “Why not?  You’ve had no issue leaving me alone before.  For the past two years you’ve been quite happy to do that.”

            “I was busy with my growing company and you didn’t mind the space and freedom you got when I moved out.  We agreed on it.  If you wanted me to move back in you could have said something.”

            Garnet paused and glared down at her stew.  “I did agree,” she admitted.  “I did want my freedom, but I didn’t want you to just disappear from my life.  Yes, I could have said something, but then it would look like I couldn’t handle taking care of myself and that I was just a helpless child.  And truth be told I was handling it just fine, except for the fact that I barely got to see you and then all of this happened.  Do you even want to spend time with me or would you rather I just be your Champion?”

            “No!  Of course I enjoy spending time with you!  You’re not just one of my fighters or just my Champion.  You’re my family Garnet.  I love you and I deeply regret pushing you through this set of fights.”

            The dark teen glanced down and swirled her spoon around in the remains of the stew.

            “Do you want to know the financial results of your matches?” Jaune offered after a couple of minutes.

            “No.  I don’t want to even think about it right now.”  She looked up and stared down her guardian.  “I’m never doing this again.  Back to back fights is completely out of the question.”

            “I wholly agree.”

            Garnet stood up and left.  In a couple of minutes Jaune heard the shower turn on.  She walked over and posted herself by the door in case Garnet fell or needed help.  The two didn’t speak another word to each other until the doorbell rang.  Jaune stood up from the couch and answered it.  Standing behind the door was a worried, short, tan, teenager with platinum blonde hair.

            “Amethyst,” Jaune greeted flatly.

            “Jaune!” the teen cracked a big smile.  “Is Garnet there?  I wanted to see how she’s doing, but if she’s resting, then I can come back later…”

            “I’ll go check,” she motioned with her hand for Amethyst to step into the small entry way.

            “Thanks,” Amethyst sheepishly smiled as she stepped in.

            The guardian walked into Garnet’s room to see the dark teen laying on her bed, the ice pack resting on her broken side.  She wasn’t sure if Garnet was asleep or not.

            “Garnet?”

            No answer.

            “Amethyst is here, would you like to see her?”

            Slowly the fighter turned to Jaune’s direction and nodded.

            “Alright, I’ll send her back then.”  The short-haired blonde walked back out after not receiving a response.  “She’s awake, please careful of her side,” Jaune spoke to Amethyst.

            “I know, thanks Jaune” Amethyst grimaced as she quickly walked back to Garnet’s room.

            Jaune frowned.  Of course Amethyst would know, there was no doubt that Amethyst was one of the people Garnet had been texting.  The tired woman fell back into the couch and stared at a random spot on the wall.  She deserved Garnet’s silent treatment.  Part of her wished they could shout it out and get all of their feelings out in the open, like she would do with Ruby, but no, Garnet was more like Sapphire in that sense.  Garnet would become silent and withdraw from the person, only approaching to talk when she had sorted out her feelings, and only on rare occasions would there be shouting.

 

            Garnet gingerly sat up as Amethyst walked into her room.  She didn’t even bother with a greeting; she didn’t have any energy to put one together.  Amethyst climbed up onto her bed and wrapped Garnet in a loose warm hug.

            “I was so scared G, she looked like she was trying to kill you,” she whispered into the taller teen's neck.

            The dark teen shrugged.  Amethyst released her and sat back on her heels.

            “So, two broken ribs…”

            “Two cracked ribs.”

            “A concussion.”

            “And twenty-three stitches,” Garnet finished.

            “Shit,” the tan teen frowned.  “Why’d Yellow D do that to you?”

            “She said the custom mouth guard and chair were all White Diamond’s doing,” Garnet’s low voice replied as she leaned back against the wall.

            “Yeah, but I didn’t know you had done that many matches in a row!  I thought a couple of those weeks you had a break!”

            Garnet halfheartedly shrugged.  “She just kept adding them on, I didn’t try to say no.  I should have said no, but now it’s already over.”

            Amethyst looked down.  “So what now?”

            “I have a meeting with a surgeon tomorrow to schedule a surgery for my ribs.  I have a note for weights.”

            “That’s good.”  Amethyst fidgeted for a couple of moments before speaking again.  “Jasper was with me, she saw the fight.”

            Garnet looked at Amethyst with alarm.  “Did she…?”

            “She recognized you.  I tried to play it off as it just being a doppelganger, but I don’t think she believes me.”

            “Fuck.”

            “What are you going to do?”

            “I don’t know,” the curly haired teen said hopelessly.  “I don’t know up from down right now.”

            “We’ll take it one day at a time.  I’ll help you through this man, but you gotta tell me that this isn’t going to happen again, you gotta stand up to Yellow Diamond and get out of whatever hold she has on you.”

            “It’s not, we will be reworking our contract this week after I’ve had some time to think.”

            Amethyst slowly nodded.  “Let me know what you work out with her, that way I can keep you to your word and not let her push you like this again.”

            “Thanks Ames, you’re the best,” Garnet barely smiled.

            “Hell yeah I am!  But no seriously I got your back.  Just please tell me you’re not fighting for a long time.”

            “No, not for several months at least.”

            “Good.  What kind of painkillers do they got you on?” she changed topics.

            “Strong ones.”

            “Those must feel great!  Do you see any funny things when you’re on them?”  Amethyst tried to cheer up the mood.

            A small smirk appeared on Garnet’s face for a brief moment.  “Sometimes,” came her low response.

            Amethyst stayed for over an hour to spend time casually conversing with Garnet.  Before long the taller teen was drifting off to sleep and the shorter left her to get the rest she needed.  She waved to Jaune as she left the house.

            Not too long after five o’clock Garnet heard someone knock at the front door from her room.  She listened as Jaune greeted the visitor.  Moments later Dr. Maheswaran walked to her door frame.

            “Good afternoon, Garnet,” she began.  “May I come in?”

            Garnet nodded and motioned to her desk chair.

            The dark woman walked in and took the offered seat.  “How are you feeling this afternoon?”

            “Like shit.”

            “Understandable.  How is your breathing?”

            “Hurts.”

            The doctor frowned as she nodded.  She quickly checked up on all of Garnet’s various injuries and had her perform a couple of small movements.

            “I know it’s a little bothersome for me to be dropping by the next day, but I just wanted to see how you were doing after a few hours of rest.”

            Garnet nodded in understanding.  “I feel better than last night, kinda.”

            “I’m glad.  You have your appointment tomorrow morning with Dr. Curtis in preparation for the surgery, it’s an hour before school starts so you should be able to go to the appointment and not be late.  He will detail the process and schedule a day for it to be performed.”

            “Thank you.”

            “You’re welcome.”  Dr. Maheswaran took a deep breath.  “There is another reason why I wanted to visit you.  Is it alright if I close the door?  It’s a sensitive matter.”

            “Sure,” Garnet replied monotonously.

            After the door was shut the doctor took her seat once again; ensuring that she was sitting in front of Garnet.  “Do you know what Jaune has been doing to you?”

            Garnet frowned and didn’t say anything.

            “She has been abusing you.  By law I am required to report any child abuse I have suspicions on.  You are still, by law, a child.  I know your 18th birthday is around seven months away and you act more like an adult than anything.  But, it still is child abuse.”

            “What would happen if she was reported?”

            “Depending on how much is brought to light and how the trial goes she could be put in prison for a number of months or years.”

            “I don’t want that,” Garnet looked down.

            “You don’t?” the doctor was genuinely surprised.

            “It won’t help.  Shutting her up away from me won’t help us mend our broken bond.  It won’t help her move through the steps to break her gambling addiction.  She’s my only family.  I don’t want to lose her too.  Yes, I am royally pissed at her for what she’s been doing, but I don’t want to throw her out.  It won’t help.”

            Dr. Maheswaran sighed.  “I still have my obligation to report it, but I will think on what you’ve expressed to me.  I know you really care about her and want to keep her in your life, but sometimes for your well-being you need to remove those who will only hurt you.”

            “I understand.  Thank you Dr. Maheswaran.”

            “Were there any more questions that you had for me concerning your injuries?”

            “No, thank you.”

            Dr. Maheswaran nodded.  “I want what’s best for you Garnet.  If you want to talk about it or if you change your mind, just let me know and we can set up an appointment.”

            Garnet nodded.  The dark woman left with a simple farewell and few last pieces of advice for tending to her injuries.  The fighter laid back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with covered eyes.

            A couple of hours later, Garnet walked into the kitchen ready to grab a small bite to eat, swallow her medication, and go back to sleep.  By the time she had awakened earlier that afternoon her phone had been backlogged with worried texts from Pearl and frantic demands from Amethyst.  She mentally cursed that she wasn’t able to respond to them earlier and maybe soothe their fears.  Amethyst was a little less freaked out after their short visit where she explained to her the diagnosis, the surgery to come, and the renegotiation of her work for Yellow Diamond, but Pearl…Pearl couldn’t know.  She couldn’t tell her.  Not only was it embarrassing, but Pearl would worry and ask more questions.  Questions that she would not be able to answer to a satisfactory level.  Ignoring her wasn’t an ideal option either.  For now, she was just pretending that it was a long shift and that she was really tired as to why she took so long to send her a message after work.  Garnet grimaced and clenched her fist in frustration; thanks to Jaune’s lack of consideration, she was going to have a hard time pretending she was ok.  The dark teen saw that her bowl of stew had been replenished and warmed up.  She pulled out her bottle of painkillers and took out two.  Jaune glanced at her from where she was currently seated at the table.

            “You’re prescribed one every four to six hours,” the woman stated.

            Garnet placed them both in her mouth and swallowed with a tiny sip of water.  The curly haired teen took her seat by the stew and began to force small bites down her esophagus, fighting the waves of nausea churning in her stomach.  Jaune sighed and looked away, not making a comment.

            “How long are you staying?”

            “As long as I feel necessary.  Unless you kick me out.”

            “This is technically your house,” Garnet stated lowly.

            “Not anymore.”

            Garnet narrowed her covered eyes, letting the silence ask her question.

            “As of last night, you’ve paid off the rest of the debt.”

            The fighter coughed a couple of times, she breathed in at the wrong time.  “What?”

            “It’s paid off completely.”

            “That’s over three hundred thousand dollars?!”

            Jaune nodded.  “And some.  I will be transferring the remainder of the five hundred thousand into your personal account once I receive the money.”

            “Five hundred…how much was the bet for?!”

            “One million.”

            “One million?!  You were betting one million on me?!” Garnet cried out incredulously.

            “I wasn’t going to charge it to you if you lost.  I was doing it without your knowledge anyway.”

            “Then why give me anything?”

            “You earned it.  The deal was for four consecutive wins after your loss in the five-to-one match.  The other Diamonds bet against me and I took it.  Originally I was just going to give you twenty percent if you won, but after watching everything, you deserve at least half.  Not a bad deal right?  If you lost, you would have never known about it, and if you won you got a considerable chunk paid off.  In this case, everything is paid off, you own this place now and you can kick me out if you desire to,” Jaune stated matter-o-factly.

            Garnet took a couple of minutes to process the information.  She finally looked over at her guardian.  “I’m not going to kick you out.”

            The blonde seemed genuinely surprised.

            “I want to work things out.  I don’t know how I exactly feel about this whole bet and the back to back fights.  But all I know right now is that we are never doing that again, understand?”

            “I have no complaints with that.”

            The dark teen nodded.  “The second bedroom is still set up.  I’m going to need some time to process everything and you’re going to need time to address your gambling addiction.”

            “I don’t have a gambling addiction,” Jaune countered.

            “Yes you do.”  Garnet said as she stood up.  She put her empty bowl in the sink and walked towards the bathroom.

            “I don’t have a gambling addiction,” Jaune grumbled under her breath.

 

            Jasper-[Yo, P, gotta random question for you.]

            Pearl- [Sure, what is it?]

            Jasper- [What is Garnet’s eye color?]

            Pearl- [? That’s really random.  Why do you want to know?]

            Jasper- [No reason, just curious.  I remembered you rambling on about how beautiful they were one day.]

            Pearl- [Oh…ok, ok!  She has heterochromia actually.  Her right eye is a light hazel, and her left eye is blue.]

            Jasper- [Does she currently have a black eye around her blue eye by chance?]

            Pearl- [What!?  Why are you asking this?]

            Jasper- [I just want to know ok?]

            Pearl- [She does, she’s at least had it since Junior Prom.]

            Jasper- [Oh…I think I know now where Garnet ‘works’ and what she does for ‘work’.]

            Pearl- [Well yeah she works at a night club as a security guard.]

            Jasper- [No, like where she ACTUALLY works.  I think she’s been lying to us.]

            Pearl- [Are you sure?]

            Jasper- [Pretty damn sure.]

            Pearl- [Seriously?  You better not be playing an awful prank on me Jasper, if Lapis and Peridot are with you laughing at this whole conversation I’m going to smack you across the face the instant I see you at school tomorrow.]

            Jasper- [No! No, I’m being 100% serious right now.  I saw, and damn, I wish I could be joking.]

            Pearl- […where does she work then?]

            Jasper- [She’s a fighter called Fusion in The Ember Colosseum.  Apparently, she fights for a Yellow Diamond; one of the big wigs that run the place.  Amethyst and I were watching the fights last night and I swear it was her.  Heterochromia and everything.]

            Pearl- [She’s a fighter?!?  And at the place you and Amethyst like to go to?  What kind of fighter exactly?]

            Jasper- [Like get in a cage beat the other unconscious sort of deal.  She’s pretty skilled, the other fighter wasn’t even close to her level.]

            Pearl- [Are you absolutely sure it was her?]

            Jasper- [Now that I know what her eye color is, yes.]

            Pearl- [Hmmm, does Amethyst agree with you on Garnet being this fighter Fusion?  Do you have a picture or something?]

            Jasper- [No, I didn’t think to take one.  That’s the odd part, Amethyst tried to convince me that it wasn’t Garnet.  I think she might be in on it with Garnet.]

            Pearl- [Great, now I can add Amethyst to the list of people I can’t completely trust.  Thank you Jasper, for telling me this.  You have no idea how much I needed to know. :)]

            Jasper- [Yeah, well, I do care about G-man, and she looked like she needed some help, after that fight, but I know she wouldn’t take it from me.]

            Pearl- [Why do you say that?]

            Jasper- [She got hit pretty bad in the side a couple of times, and got a gash across her forehead.  It was intense, I thought she was going to lose.]

            Pearl- […I…I’ll check on her, see if she’s ok.  Thank you for telling me Jasper.]

            Jasper- [Yeah well, no problem, like I said she probably needs some serious medical help.  She didn’t look too good.]

            Pearl- [Thank you Jasper, I really appreciate the information.  I hope she’s ok.]

            Jasper- [Yeah me too.]

            Pearl- [Do you remember by chance what side she got hit on?]

            Jasper- [Ehhh, no, sorry.]

            Pearl- [No worries, thanks again Jasper :)]

            Jasper- [Yeah, just help her out, k?]

            Pearl- [I’ll do my best.]

            Jasper- [Good. Night P]

            Pearl- [Good night Jasper. :)]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dots are slowly connecting. Garnet's secret won't be a secret for long.


	25. Pulling the Pieces Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pearl's reaction and much more. There's a couple of characters that make a brief appearance in this chapter as well :)

^^^^^^

Rose finally collects the full picture of what is happening to Garnet Erutav with the help of multiple sources.

^^^^^^

 

            There wasn’t one word that could describe how Pearl felt at the moment.  Her mind was a swirl of emotions as she paced back and forth in her room.  Light blue eyes reread the texting conversation with Jasper yet again.  Garnet, according to Jasper, wasn’t a security guard; she was a fighter.  Every weekend she had been off at “work” she had been off fighting in some ring deep in the ground.  Pearl had scanned through her message history for the secretive teen and had counted up the number of weekends she had mentioned that she had work in the past few weeks.  She didn’t bother counting the couple of times from farther back.  Five back to back.  That meant she had five fights in a row with varying injuries that steadily had gotten worse.  Now that she thought about it, Garnet’s black eye didn’t look entirely fresh when she had seen it after Junior Prom, she had noticed the lighter colors that usually accompanied bruises that were healing.  Pearl was angry.  She was hurt.  She wanted to yell at Garnet and demand an explanation.  Ask her why she kept this all hidden and why she had lied to her despite her asking Garnet where she worked and how she had acquired the injuries.  Pearl was worried.  Jasper said Garnet needed medical attention for both her head and side.  If anything she probably had been hit on her already injured side.  The pale teen grabbed at her hair and chewed on her bottom lip.  What was she to do?!  Garnet will most likely hide that she’s hurt, and will continue to pretend that everything was ok.  Forcing the truth out of the stoic teen was bound to have disastrous effects.  Amethyst would back up whatever lie Garnet was telling and it would be hers and Jasper’s word against them with no proof.  Pearl was frustrated.  She finally had a lead on where Garnet really worked, yet it seemed like there was nothing she could do with it.

            _Rose…I can tell Rose about what Jasper saw tomorrow!_

            There it was, a small ray of light beaming through, Rose would know what to do.  The large woman already knew Garnet was hurt and that the work permit information didn’t match up with what Pearl previously knew about Garnet’s work.  Evidently, both were wrong.

            _But why is Garnet fighting?!  And how?  She’s not eighteen yet?  Her guardian wouldn’t let her do this, right?_

The red head’s face fell as she read the ending of the text message from Jasper.  Garnet was hurt.  Bad.  Pearl wanted to cry.  Cry out of frustration, worry, anger, and hurt.  Cry because that seemed like the only thing she could do right now.

            _Tomorrow.  Tomorrow I will be able to see Garnet and talk to her.  We have math.  We’ll talk before class and then I can speak with Rose and we’ll figure out what to do about this whole ordeal.  Tomorrow.  I can wait for tomorrow._

With a heavy sigh Pearl turned and faced the mirror hanging on her door.  She wiped away a stray tear running down her cheek.  Long thin fingers typed out a quick message and sent it.

            Pearl- [I hope you were able to get some rest today.  See you at school tomorrow?]

            The pale teen began to put away all of her studying material so she could head to bed shortly after dinner, with AP tests all this week on top of _this_ she was going to need her rest.  A chirp came from her phone.  Pearl was surprised, she wasn’t expecting a response at all; especially considering how sparse their conversation had been that day.

            Garnet- [I was.  See you tomorrow B)]

            Pearl sighed and shook her head.

            _Please, be ok.  Please let it be not that bad._

“Pearl!” her mother’s voice called from down below.  “Dinner time!”

            Pearl took a calming breath and put on a smile.  “I’ll be right down!”

            Both of her parents sat at the table waiting for her by the time she made it downstairs.  As they began eating, her father spoke up.

            “Your mother and I have been thinking lately, you and Garnet have become quite close since you two have been going out on dates.  We’ve been able to get to know her a little better over the past few months, but since Thursday night where you failed to come home at an appropriate time, your mother and I thought it was time we got to know Garnet’s parents a little better.”

            “In all reality we don’t know them much at all.  You did mention that she had two mothers, and we have no issues with that obviously, but we’ve never seen them and Garnet’s never really talked about them either,” her mother added.

            “Oh…” Pearl looked off to the side.  “Well…what were you thinking?”

            “We would like to have a dinner with them, and you two as well.  Just our two families getting to know each other better, that way the both of us can feel more at ease whenever you go over to her house,” her father smiled.  “How does that sound?”

            “It sounds very nice, I’m sure Garnet’s mothers would have loved the idea,” Pearl began, her gut sinking with every second.

            The two parents waited for Pearl to explain, sensing the odd wording in her response.  The pale teen struggled internally.  Her failure to tell her parents about Garnet’s living situation had finally caught up with her.  She could try to lie about it, but eventually it would break, plus she knew how much it hurt to have someone she cared about lie to her.  Pearl was going to come clean no matter the consequences.

            “Garnet’s mothers Ruby and Sapphire passed away seven years ago.  From how Garnet has described them to me, they would have loved to have dinner with us.”

            Mr. and Mrs. Tancerz exchanged surprised looks.

            “That is very unfortunate.  How long have you known?” her mother asked gently.

            “Since the state championship game,” Pearl shrank into her chair.  “We dropped by her house before the party at Jasper’s so she could change.  She told me then.”

            “Does she live with her next of kin then?  Or a guardian?” her father spoke up.

            “She has a legal guardian named Jaune, but she doesn’t live with Garnet.”

            “So Garnet lives by herself in the house?” Mrs. Tancerz eyebrows raised up.

            “Yes,” Pearl admitted with a small voice.

            “And all of these times you’ve been over at her place studying, no one else has been there?”

            “Not all the time, sometimes we study as a group, but yes there have been many times where it’s just the two of us in her house.”

            Pearl’s parents stared at her with disbelief.

            “It never occurred to you to tell us this?” her father’s voice raised slightly.

            The thin teen looked down at her lap.

            “You’ve been with her unsupervised all this time?!” his voice became a little louder.  “What if you got hurt?!  Or something bad happened!  There would have been no adult to help out or monitor things!  What if Garnet-!”

            Mrs. Tancerz put her hand on her husband’s shoulder.  He looked at his wife and sat back down in his chair.

            “We are very disappointed in you, Pearl, for hiding this from us.”

            “No wonder why it seemed that rouge teenager answered to no one!  She does whatever she wants and has no responsibilities!”

            “Garnet is very responsible!” Pearl shot out.  “She does her own shopping and cooking, she cleans the house and does her laundry on top of going to school and working on weekends!”

            Her parents frowned at her for her outburst.

            “I’m sorry,” she quickly apologized, “that was rude of me.”

            “We wouldn’t have been upset if you told us she lived with her guardian, even though that apparently isn’t even the case, but you lied to us, letting us believe that she lived with her parents while in reality she’s been living on her own as a minor,” her mother explained.

            “Garnet says her guardian visits every now and then to help out with things,” Pearl tried.

            Mrs. Tancerz shook her head.  “You lied to us Pearl and not about some small matter, we are going to have to ground you.”

            “You can no longer go over to Garnet’s house.  Not as just you or as a group,” her father sentenced

            “For how long?”

            “Indefinitely,” her mother stated.

            “What?!”

            “We are not comfortable with you going over to anyone’s house without adult supervision,” Mrs. Tancerz explained.  “If Garnet’s guardian did live with her, then maybe we could work out a time frame for the grounding, but since she doesn’t it’s a permanent no.”

            “But what about when I turn eighteen in the end of June?  I’ll be a legal adult then and-”

            “Will Garnet be an adult then?”

            “No,” Pearl looked away.  “Her 18th birthday isn’t until January.”

            “Maybe once you’re both eighteen we can talk about it again.  However, for now you are no longer allowed over at Garnet’s house.”

            “I understand,” the dancer conceded.

            “If you had told us the truth from the beginning, we could have worked something out with you being able to go over whenever her guardian was around,” her mother added.  “Please don’t lie to us like that again.  If anything ever happened to you, we would have never been able to forgive ourselves for being so careless.  We know you both really like each other and we’re not banning you from spending time with her, you just need to either be in a public place or at a house with a supervising adult.”

            “I won’t hide things like this from you two again, I’m sorry Mom and Dad.”

            “We love you, Pearl,” her dad said softly, “and we want to make sure you are happy and safe.  I’d never be able to forgive anyone who hurt you.”

            “I know; I love you too.  I should have told the both of you sooner, I just forgot to.”

            Her parents smiled at her.  The rest of dinner went by relatively smoothly.  Pearl felt relieved that she had finally told her parents about Garnet’s living situation, but at the same time was frustrated that she would no longer be able to go over to the dark teen’s house.  With all her questions about Garnet’s work, finding a time with just the two of them to talk was going to be a little more difficult.

 

            Monday didn’t start out well.  Pearl arrived early around her usual time and sat waiting for her close friend to appear.  The minutes trickled by.  Other students began fill the class.  The pale teen barely returned the greetings from Lapis and Peridot; too busy watching the door.  Mr. Martin stepped in front and began the lesson for the day.  Pearl frowned and turned her attention to the study guide.  It was their last math class before the AP exam on Wednesday, one last chance to ask any questions.  About fifteen minutes into class the door opened and Garnet walked slowly in.  She handed the teacher a note and then walked towards her seat.  The dark teen gingerly sat down, carefully exhaling.  Pearl could tell right away that Garnet was hurting.  Her friend never moved like that.  Long strides had turned into short steps, deep even breaths had been replaced by smaller frequent ones.  This wasn’t good.  Mr. Martin called everyone’s attention to the front after informing that Garnet was to talk to him after class.  Pearl tried to send a smile Garnet’s way, but her lips failed her, the best she managed was a weak grimace.  The dancer fumed in frustration and focused on the review.  Halfway through the review the intercom rang out.

            “Pearl Tancerz please report to the office.  Pearl Tancerz please report to the office.”

            Light blue eyes blinked.

            _Oh, right! Rose.  I guess she had time to see me._

She quickly packed up her bag and left the room, only briefly catching Garnet giving her a thumbs up.  As she passed through the door she sent one back to her.

            It was nerve-wracking, the idea of stating the information that Jasper gave her as fact without any proof was a risk.  What could they do to help anyway?  Make sure her paperwork gets sorted?  Talk with her “manager”?  Make her go to a hospital?  Pearl was starting to have doubts.

            _What if I’m wrong?_

Her gut churned and disagreed.

            _No.  This makes the most sense.  The injuries, the secrecy, everything.  I just don’t know why she’s doing it._

“Hello, Pearl,” Rose greeted with a smile.

            “Hello, Rose,” Pearl returned weakly.

            “I did some work over the weekend and this morning seeing if there was any information I could find out about Garnet’s shifts at Information Link.  However, I was referred to Jaune Simmons and she hasn’t called me back yet with a response.  No other individuals within the security department were able to provide any information on Garnet aside from the days she had worked and the time frames.  They did say that they haven’t had any major break-ins or things like that.  However, I doubt they would tell me even if they had occurred,” Rose began.  “Were you able to have any better luck?”

            “Kinda…” Pearl looked away.

            The counselor raised an eyebrow and waited for the student to continue.

            “Jasper and Amethyst both like to go watch fights at a place called The Ember Colosseum.”

            “I’ve never heard of that place,” Rose admitted.

            “Well, evidently it’s pretty popular.  Anyway, Jasper texted me last night asking me about Garnet’s eye color.  She has pretty unique eyes so she would be easy to identify without her glasses on.  Jasper said she watched a fight where she was positive that Garnet was one of the two fighters.  A fighter named Fusion who looks exactly like Garnet.”

            Rose frowned.  “Does she have a picture or anything?  Some evidence of this?  Or maybe even a second eyewitness, like Amethyst?”

            “Jasper doesn’t have a picture, and she thinks Amethyst won’t say Garnet is Fusion even if she really is.”

            The large woman hummed thoughtfully.  “Do you believe what Jasper told you?”

            “I do, actually.  It would make sense with the type of injuries Garnet has been getting.  Jasper also mentioned that in the fight she saw Fusion get a cut on her forehead and get hit in the side.  Maybe I can try and get a look at Garnet’s face to confirm or deny it?”

            “It would be best to get a confirmation that Garnet really is Fusion.  I doubt Jasper would lie about something like this, but we can’t call anyone in on something like this with just a guess.  If you could try to acquire some evidence or even get the information from Garnet, that would be very helpful.”

            “Nothing bad is going to happen to her for lying on her work permit, right?” Pearl asked, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

            “I can’t really say.  It depends on the surrounding circumstances.  If anything multiple people will be at fault.”

            “I don’t want anything bad to happen to Garnet, I just want her to get taken care of medically.  That’s why I brought this up to begin with.”

            “I know,” Rose smiled, “And we will make sure that happens too.  However, if it is discovered that something more serious is going on, we will need to take action.”

            “Like what?”

            “I’m not sure just yet, but there could be a lot more to this than we thought.”

            “Oh…”  Pearl understood Rose’s vagueness, there were just somethings that a student like her would not be involved in.

            “Thank you for coming in and talking with me Pearl.  I will make sure we do everything we can to help out Garnet.  And please let me know if you find out any more information on the theory of Garnet being a fighter named Fusion.”

            “I will,” the dancer stated with determination.  “Thank you for listening.”

            “Of course, you can always come talk to me about anything.”

            Pearl left with a quick good-bye and made her way back to her math class.  She felt slightly better after talking to Rose, but her worry was still prevalent.  Garnet looked her direction when she stepped into the class.  A small smile made its way onto her face that was returned by the darker teen.

            _I really do care about you.  I hope this all works out for the best._

            Rose was deeply troubled.  Jaune Simmons had signed off on the work permit as both the guardian and the employer.  At first she didn’t think much of it because Jaune had probably hired Garnet for her company to help the teen get some work experience.  But with the information presented by Pearl that Garnet could be fighting in a ring, then something could be seriously wrong.  The large woman pulled up Garnet’s schedule and noticed that the teen would have her PE class tomorrow.  She would either bring in a note from a doctor or would struggle with the workout and get sent to the nurse’s office.  Coach Sugilite had a good eye and did not tolerate slacking off.  Rose would be sure to talk to the woman tomorrow at lunch to get any observations from her on Garnet.  With a quick swivel of her chair Rose turned to her computer and began looking up The Ember Colosseum; maybe she could find something about the place online.

            It turned out to be very hard to find any information on the place, much harder than Rose had anticipated.  She found a couple of news articles on police being in the colosseum investigating a missing person’s report or tracking down a drug dealer.  However, all of the articles ended with unclear resolutions and no actual action taken by the police.  As Rose closed out the windows she came to the conclusion that this Ember Colosseum was not a place for a high school student to be fighting in.  She wished she could spend more time on researching it, but she had other pressing duties to take care of.  Rose sincerely wished that this was not the case and that Jasper had somehow seen incorrectly, but a feeling in her gut told her otherwise.

 

            Pearl looked around as she took her seat at their usual spot.  Both Amethyst and Garnet were nowhere to be seen.  She frowned and pulled out her lunch.  Jasper grumbled as she sat down next to Pearl.

            “The two troublemakers bailing on lunch today?” the buff teen growled.

            “I don’t know…”

            “Figured they’d do that.”

            The dancer didn’t say anything else.  Lapis and Peridot showed up not too long ago and their lunch time conversations returned as usual.  After she had finished eating, Pearl stood up and walked away announcing that she was going to go look for Garnet.  It took a little bit to find them sitting, or in Garnet’s case laying, in one of the hallways.  She stayed out of sight and watched from the corner she was hiding behind.

            “C’mon G, one more normal breath, you can do it,” Amethyst coached.  “Breathe in, breathe out.”

            Pained grunts came from the prone figure.

            “It hasn’t kicked in yet,” Garnet grumbled.

            “I know, but this is a better time than any to regulate your breathing.  The doctor said you can’t keep breathing shallow to just escape your pain.”

            “I’ll do it once my painkillers have kicked in.”

            Amethyst frowned and folded her arms.  “G…”

            The two were silent for a while.  Pearl almost stepped out to talk to them, but stayed back.

            “We can’t avoid them you know, especially Pearl,” the platinum blonde stated.

            “I can’t let her see me like this.”

            Amethyst sighed and ran her fingers through Garnet’s curls.

            It hurt.  Pearl looked away and clenched her fist over her heart.

            _Why?!  Don’t you trust me?_

A couple of streams of tears ran down her cheeks as she leaned against the wall.  Garnet was shutting her out.  The dancer was torn between stepping out and calling out Garnet or just walking away.  Her angry fire from being lied to was slowly extinguished by her tears as she realized that she wasn’t important enough to Garnet to know whenever the dark teen was actually hurting.  As her mind thought about it, Garnet would have never told her about her injuries had Pearl not hit them or seen them.  The one time Garnet had asked for her help at the championship game had been an outlier, not the standard.  Pearl pushed away the remains of her tears and walked away.

 

            On Tuesday Pearl noticed Garnet sitting against the chain link fence by the weight room in her regular clothes.  One glance over her shoulder told her that Ms. Sardonyx was busy and that she could sneak away for a moment.  Carefully she took a seat next to the larger teen and rested her head on Garnet’s shoulder.  The curly haired teen turned to look at her in surprise.

            “How is your side?” Pearl asked, not expecting a real answer.

            Garnet looked away and was silent for a moment.  “Hurts.”

            “Have you seen a doctor?”

            “Yes.”

            Pearl breathed out a sigh of relief.  “What did they say?”

            “I’ve got some healing to do.  A couple months probably.”

            The dancer nodded.  She cupped Garnet’s chin and tipped her head so she could kiss her briefly.  “Please don’t shut me out.  I know you’re hurting, and I want to help.”

            Garnet guiltily looked away.  Pearl waited a few more seconds before standing up to leave.  A broad hand caught hers, their fingers intertwining.  The dark teen looked up at her.  She looked like she wanted to say something but no words were coming out.  Pearl gave her a sad smile before breaking contact and walking back to class before she got in trouble.

 

            “Yeah she gave me a note at the beginning of class,” Coach Sugilite stated loudly in the teachers’ lounge.  “She was excused for the rest of the school year actually for some rib injury.”

            “I see,” Rose nodded.  “Thank you Sugilite.  Is the note in her file or do you still have it?”

            “It’s right here,” she said as she pulled out the yellow piece of paper from her pants pocket.  “Once you’re done looking at it you get to file it.”

            “I have no issues with that,” Rose smiled.  “Thank you for the note.”

            “No problem.  Don’t know why you would be interested in it anyway,” the athletic coach shrugged off.

            “Oh, I’m just curious about a few things concerning Garnet, that’s all.”

            Sugilite shrugged once again.

            Rose left the teachers’ lounge in a hurry.  Hopefully she would be able to decipher the name of the doctor or at least have a hospital to go off of.  Her inquisitive eyes looked down at the signature and stopped in her tracks.  Not only was the doctor’s signature easy to read, but she knew her.

            “Dr. Maheswaran.  Connie’s mother,” she said to no one.

 

            Dr. Maheswaran quickly walked towards the next patient room.  Like usual, things had gotten behind and she had been playing catchup the whole day.  She needed to consider reducing the number of patient’s she saw a day.

            “Dr. Maheswaran!” A voice called out to her.

            “Yes?” she turned to see one of the front desk attendants approaching her.

            “There’s a woman named Rose Universe in the lobby who wants to speak to you about one of your patients.”

            “Rose Universe?”

            _Steven’s mother?_

“Yes.  She said it was an important matter concerning one of the students she works with.  What shall I tell her?”

            “I have my last appointment in an hour, I can speak with her briefly after that if she really needs to,” the doctor said as she rubbed her forehead.

            “Yes, Dr. Maheswaran, I’ll let her know.”

            The doctor sighed heavily.  It didn’t take long to guess who she was probably coming to talk to her about.  She paused for a moment, realizing the opportunity this presented her with.  If Rose was coming to talk about Garnet Erutav, then Dr. Maheswaran would be able to voice her concerns.  There had not been time the past two days to figure out how she was going to report Jaune, but this could be the opening she needed.

            Almost two hours later the larger woman was allowed back into one of the examination rooms.  Dr. Maheswaran entered the room to find Rose sitting on the examination chair with a cheerful smile on her face.

            “Ms. Universe, good evening.”

            “It’s always a pleasure to see you, Dr. Maheswaran, how is Connie?”

            The doctor smiled at the mention of her daughter.  “Connie is doing well; she is excited for the start of summer vacation.  She keeps telling me about all the adventures she and Steven are planning to have.”

            “Steven is the same way; he can’t wait as well.”

            “I’m sure he is.  I’m sorry I have to cut right to the point, but what were you coming to talk to me about?”

            Rose’s face fell a little.  “You signed off on a note excusing Garnet Erutav from any athletics for the rest of the school year.  I’m impressed at your handwriting, most doctors you can’t tell whatever they are writing.”

            “Thank you.  Yes, Garnet Erutav is one of my patients, however I can’t disclose any information to you, that would break the doctor patient confidentiality.”

            “Yes, I know.  I’m not going to ask about her injuries, I just wanted to know if you knew anything about her work.”

            “About her work?”

            “Yes, I have conflicting information on where Garnet actually works from her work permit to what a couple of her close friends have told me.  I normally wouldn’t be too concerned except that they are telling me that she is a fighter in a shady place.  My concern is that Jaune seems to be enabling this by signing off as having Garnet employed by her at Information Link and Garnet is getting hurt as the result of these fights.”

            “I see,” Dr. Maheswaran said with a neutral face.  “I’m glad you came to me about this actually,” she said softer.

            Rose raised an eyebrow in surprise at the change of tone.

            “Garnet is a fighter named Fusion in a place called The Ember Colosseum.  She’s been doing this for the past two and a half years.  The one who manages and schedules these fights is Jaune Simmons, her legal guardian.  I know this because, as a friend of Jaune’s I was asked to help her take care of her fighters, specifically Garnet, in return for a large favor she had done for me a number of years ago.”  The doctor looked away.  “I should have reported it long ago, but Garnet wasn’t getting seriously hurt and it was well managed and balanced between the two.  Garnet was enjoying the chance to fight and win a good deal of money.  However, recently Jaune has seriously abused Garnet by forcing her to fight multiple matches in a row regardless of the injuries she sustained as a result.  Jaune has been both mentally and physically abusive towards Garnet in varying degrees over the past two and a half years.  She could also be charged with neglect in the fact that Garnet has been living on her own for around the same amount of time as well.”

            Rose’s mouth hung open in shock.  The worst case scenario she had pictured in her mind had been blown to pieces by Dr. Maheswaran’s reveal.

            “Wow.  I had no idea it was that serious.  I…why would Jaune do that to Garnet?”

            The doctor sighed.  “I don’t entirely understand the woman’s rationalization, but she says that she simply forgot Garnet wasn’t an adult.”

            The larger woman made a face.  “That’s not an excuse.  Why haven’t you reported this yet?  We both are required by law to do so.”

            “It didn’t get out of hand until just a few weeks ago.  I bought into the fact that Garnet was happy with the arrangement and didn’t think that it was an issue that needed to be addressed by any officials.  After these recent events I have wanted to report Jaune, but Garnet asked me not to report her.  She would rather that they work things out privately.”

            “Well, that can’t be done now.  Jaune has to be reported.”

            “I agree, that’s why I’m glad you came in.  I will report it, and take any blame for not doing to sooner.  However, I will probably wait a few more days before I do.”

            “What?!  Why, wait?”  Rose jumped off the table.  “Garnet needs to be protected.”

            “Garnet is going in for surgery on Saturday.  If Child Protective Services comes in and rips Jaune away while she actually providing care and support for Garnet; I am concerned that in the commotion Garnet may not make it to the surgery or receive the care she needs right now.”

            “But Jaune is the one who is abusing her, she shouldn’t be left alone with her at all!  The sooner she’s reported the better.”

            “Right now Garnet is under Jaune’s medical insurance and has access to some of the best doctors in the area.  If she gets thrown into the system and is put under whatever CPS can provide medically wise, there is a high probability that Garnet won’t get the treatment she needs right now.  She has two compound breaks in her rib cage and she is scheduled to have surgery with Dr. Curtis, an exceptional surgeon.  One I highly doubt CPS would want to pay for.  Although it’s not an ideal situation, but it’s better than the surgery being put off several weeks or performed by a less skilled individual.”

            “Her injuries were that bad?”

            Dr. Maheswaran nodded.

            “So you want to wait until after the surgery before you report her?  How long?  Days?  Weeks?”

            “I was thinking either the Sunday or Monday after the operation.  That way by then we can have someone in mind who can help take care of Garnet.”

            “I don’t know…The state should be able to get Garnet the proper care for her injuries.  With Garnet physically compromised it won’t be hard at all for Jaune to abuse her even more.  She’s not safe,” Rose pushed.

            “Rose, I know this area much better than you.  The children under the care of the state hardly ever get the medical attention they need.  There just aren’t enough funds.  Trust me.”

            After some hesitation the counselor nodded.  “Alright, I’ll agree on that, but I will keep an eye on her at school in the meantime.  If I feel she needs to be reported sooner, I will contact you.  If not we’ll go in together to file a report with the police after the surgery,” Rose finalized.

            “Agreed.  Please realize that there is also a high possibility that Garnet will not cooperate with the trial, she might even fight for Jaune.”

            Rose nodded, her large curls bouncing up and down.  “We will have to prepare for that then.  I’m glad that Garnet will be taken care of medically, that is how I was pulled into this in the first place.”

            “Really?”

            “Yes, one of her friends came to me with concerns about Garnet’s health, and it just escalated from there.”

            “I see.  Well thank you Rose for being a voice of encouragement.  It will be a bit of a mess, but I think it’s for the best.”

            Rose nodded.  “I have one question before I go.”

            “What is it?”

            “Can you show me the place where Garnet fights?  I want to see it for myself.”

            Dr. Maheswaran made a face.  After some thought she spoke.  “I’ll take you there, but please listen to any instructions I give you.  It’s not the best or safest place to be in.”

            “Roger that!” Rose smiled.  “Thank you for indulging me.”

            The darker skinned woman nodded.  “Was there anything else you wanted to go over?”

            “No that was it.  We will keep in contact about Garnet and Jaune.  Thank you for confirming the information I was given.”

            “You’re welcome.”

            The two women bade farewell at the end of the long day.  Dr. Maheswaran breathed out a sigh of relief.  She now had backup in this complicated situation.  Everything was going to work out for the better.  It had to.

 

            Rose softly closed the door behind her as she walked into her home.  The click caused a small ball of love to come running towards her, excitedly chatting about the fun he had in school that day.  Rose easily picked up her son Steven and gave him a big hug, inquiring about some of the things he had learned today.  As Steven showed her the practice sheet for mathematics, part of Rose’s mind wandered back to what she had just learned about one of her students.  It made her just want to hold onto her son even harder and shower him with all of her love and attention.  Somedays her work was unbearable, but coming home to her husband and son always brightened her mood.  Deep laughter escaped her lungs as she listened to Steven retell what had happened at lunch with Connie and the invasion of the seagulls.  Connie had bravely fought off the onslaught with the bow of her violin so Steven’s lunch wasn’t carried away.  Greg Universe greeted her with a chaste kiss on the lips and added a story of his own on how he had finally mapped out the final verse to the song he had been working on.

            The family joined for dinner and worked together to clean up afterwards.  Rose helped Steven with his homework questions while Greg presented his song to them.  It wasn’t long before Steven joined in with his own Ukulele; creating a small concert for the curly haired woman to enjoy. Eventually, Steven was ushered to bed and the married couple got ready to go to sleep as well.  Rose sat on the edge of her bed, staring off into the distance with thoughts on how Garnet was doing under Jaune’s “care” swirling around in her head.

            “Long day?  You were home much later than usual,” Greg said as he sat down next to her.

            “Yes, it was a long day,” Rose agreed.

            “Is it one of your students?”

            Rose turned and smiled sadly at her husband.  “Sometimes the truth is hard to digest.”

            Greg frowned, concern showing through his soft eyes.

            “This Saturday I’m going to a place with Dr. Maheswaran to help me understand what has been going on with one of my students.  It will be later in the evening.  Is that alright with you?”  Rose brought up.

            “You’re not going to get into any dangerous situations are you?  Where are you going?”

            “I wish I could tell you, but it’s best that it remains confidential for now,” Rose looked away.  “I’ll do my best to stay safe, I’m not easy to mess with,” she turned back with a wink.

            Greg laughed and scratched the back of his neck.  “I do know that.  You sure you can’t even tell me the name of the place?”

            The large woman was thoughtful for a moment.  “It’s in the Embers Way district.”

            A look of panic streaked across Greg’s face.  “I’m not really comfortable with you going there, that’s a bad place.”

            “I know.”

            The musician sighed and looked away.  “I’m not going to be able to get you to change your mind will I?”

            “No,” Rose said softly.

            “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, but if it’s to help out one of your students that is in trouble, then I can’t really argue with that.”  He paused for a moment.  “Steven and I can have a man’s night while you’re gone.  Please be safe.  If anything goes wrong don’t hesitate to call me and the police.”

            “I will,” Rose smiled, her face full of gratitude.  “Thank you, Honey.”

            “I love you, Rose.”

            “I love you too, Greg.”

            They shared a kiss before going to sleep in their bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me for this chapter, ok? Hope you all enjoyed it!


	26. Tests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys get this one a little early ;) enjoy!

^^^^^^

The teenagers face a number of tests as the school year winds to a close.

^^^^^^

 

            Students steadily gathered around the designated public building, anticipation wafting through the air.  Some had their notes out for last minute cramming, others were talking about anything but the impending test of their knowledge, and others just stood around waiting for the doors to open.  Pearl looked around, enjoying the light breeze and the change of pace.  It was nice to get the day off from school for her two AP tests that day.  Calculus and physics.  Surely it would be a mind numbing time, but she looked forward to it.  She was ready to face the two tests and succeed.  Lapis and Peridot arrived a few minutes after her and they chatted lightly about plans for the day while throwing in random rules or theorems to remember once in the room.  The dancer was grateful to have the two as her group members.  On all of the group tests they had done well to ace each one.  They were all confident that they would each get a good score.  It was weird to have a whole year’s worth of education reduced to a number from 1-5 that would appear on a sheet of paper a few months later.  Personally, Pearl was going to be disappointed if she didn’t receive a 5 on the test.  She straightened her back and looked at the building once again.  If she wanted to get into her preferred college she needed as many impressive marks as possible.

            In the corner of her eye she noticed a sleek car approach the curb and stop.  A white, R8 Audi coupe.  Not the typical car for a teenager to be driving.  Much to her surprise Garnet was the one who slowly go out of the passenger side.  A suit covered arm offered a brown bag to the dark teen, who reluctantly took the item.  Once Garnet had entered the throng of students the car pulled away and drove off.  Pearl watched Garnet stand off to the side, leaning against the building, nearby the doors.  She looked away, not wanting her hurt feelings to be brought to the forefront of her mind.  Today she was going to focus on the test and not how much Garnet’s silence had been bothering her.  Peridot and Lapis offered comforting smiles, they had found out most of what had been going on yesterday during their last calculus study session together.

            Originally, the four of them were supposed to study together, but Garnet had backed out stating that she wasn’t feeling well and needed to rest.  It wasn’t hard for Pearl to believe that, yet it didn’t prevent the disappointment that came as a result.  Somehow, the three ended up studying at Jasper’s house.  The buff teen had vented about an hour into the study session concerning what she had learned over the weekend about Garnet’s secret job.  She was mad at Amethyst for trying to cover it up, and she was shocked that Garnet would put herself in that kind of danger.  A good portion of her ranting came with a slight hint of jealousy. She now knew that Garnet could fight well and that the tips and advice the dark teenager had given to her about her own fighting had been founded on actual experience.  Jasper had turned on Pearl asking her how she felt about the whole thing.  The dancer had admitted her frustration with the lies and Garnet avoiding her the past couple of days.  She tearfully expressed her hurt and her desire to just be able to know Garnet’s side of the story.  Pearl openly wished that the silent teenager would let her help her like she had done before.  Her three first friends at this new school sat and listened intensely, offering words of comfort or loud exclamations that the ridiculousness of the entire situation.  It had helped.  Pearl knew they had her back and would do anything they could to help.  Jasper and Lapis even suggested capturing Garnet and tying her up until she talked.  The idea had been good for a laugh.

            The opening of the doors captured the attention of all of the students in the area.  It was beginning.  Dozens of bodies pushed through the doors to only be instructed to form a line to present their identification.  Boxes for phones and a monitored bag area were provided.  No one was allowed to bring anything into the test area.  As Pearl stepped in line, the dark teen walked towards her.  Garnet outstretched her hand to touch Pearl’s shoulder, but reconsidered the action and drew it back.

            “Good luck,” Garnet said.  “Not that you’ll really need it though…” she tried with a weak smile.

            The dancer barely looked at her.  “You too,” she responded softly.

            They moved past each other as Garnet continued towards the back of the line.  Pearl felt an ache in her chest and just like that her hurt was knocking on the mental door begging for attention.  She wanted to grab Garnet and ask her to explain her stiff behavior towards her.  The pale teen pushed the feelings down by running through a few simple rules for derivatives.  After Pearl proved her identity she walked into the large room and took a seat at one of the tables.  For each large round table, there were three chairs.  Since Lapis and Peridot were right behind her they all were able to claim a table for themselves.  As the mediator of the test began listing off the rules and the schedule for the sections of the test, the three gave each other a final thumbs up.

            Each problem was dissected and solved with relative ease.  Pearl could feel her brain buzzing as she worked steadily through the test.  Any time she was stumped or puzzled, it would only take a minute or two to recall how to figure out the correct answer.  All of the hours she put into studying and practicing were paying off.  During the midway break, the thin teenager breathed easily as she sipped on one of the provided water bottles.  The multiple choice section was done and now all she had left was the written portion.  The gathering of students took their seats once again as the mediator reminded them of the rules and gave out the instructions for the written portion.  Two hours to answer a small number of complicated questions.  Points would be given for work shown and the correct answer.  Pearl rolled her shoulders and flexed her fingers before digging into the next part.

 

            “I am so done with that,” Lapis stated in an exhausted tone.

            “One down, one more today,” Peridot added as she stretched, yawning widely.  “I was going to get food with Lapis before coming back for physics, want to come with?” she directed to Pearl.

            “I brought a lunch, I was just going to stay here and review one last time.”  Pearl watched Garnet walk out of the building and head towards a tree out of the corner of her eye.  “Thanks for the offer though.”

            “Fine,” Peridot shrugged.  “Where to Lazuli?!”

            “Anywhere but here, I don’t want to do any math for the next couple of days.”

            Pearl waved at her friends before walking in the direction Garnet had gone in.  In the area between the building and the parking lot, Garnet sat leaning against a tree.  The dancer silently walked over.  She sat down across from her.  An orange pill bottle sat on the grass next to an untouched lunch.  Pearl frowned as her eyes spotted the medication name.  It was a strong painkiller, Vicodin.  Garnet tilted her head down from where she had it tipped back against the rough bark.  They stared at each other for a full minute.

            “How was the test?” Pearl spoke first.

            The taller pathetically laughed.  “If you hadn’t helped me out so much during the year I would have definitely failed.”

            The pale teen frowned.  “Really?”

            “Yeah…I don’t know if it was just the material or everything else…” Garnet trailed off.

            “Oh…”

            “How was the test for you?”

            “Not as bad as I thought it would be.  I guess going over the material several times helped a lot.”

            A genuine smile formed on thick lips.  “You’re really smart too, I’m sure you blew it out of the water.”

            Pearl blushed.

            “You have physics after this right?  Are you ready for another round of all that?” Garnet continued as she gestured to the building with her thumb.

            “As ready as I can be.”

            “I’m sure you’ll do great, Pearl.”

            The dancer smiled.  “Yeah… It looks like you got some medication for your work injuries,” Pearl quickly changed topics.  “Is your side doing better?”

            Garnet became noticeably stiffer.  “It helps.”

            “It didn’t get hit again did it?”

            “Only a little…”

            Anger pulsed in Pearl’s mind.

            _She’s lying!!_

Jasper’s graphic descriptions of what had happened during the fight came to the forefront of her mind.  The thin teen stared down and picked a blade of grass, sharply tearing it into small sections with her fingers.

            “A little?” Pearl pressed.

            Garnet nodded.

            “Did it get worse?”

            The dark teen didn’t say anything.  Pearl clenched her teeth, the tension slowly rising between them.

            “So why did your shift go so long?  I was worried when you didn’t reply to any of my texts until Sunday.  You promised to send me a message once you were done.”

            “It just ran real late; I was too tired to even think about sending you a text once I got home.  Sorry,” Garnet replied in monotone.

            Pearl’s tone became cold.  “You didn’t say why.”  Another blade of grass was reduced to shreds.

            “There was a special event at the end they wanted me to help cover for,” Garnet grumbled.

            “Stop lying to me,” Pearl bit.

            “What?”

            “I said stop lying to me,” Pearl stated louder as she glared at Garnet.

            “I-”

            “Look, I get it,” Pearl put her hands up in surrender as she stood up.  “You don’t want to tell me what really happened, but could you at least have the decency to tell me you don’t want to tell me instead of just lying to my face?!”

            “Why do you think I’m lying to you?”

            “You’re on Vicodin!  I know how strong that stuff is!  And do you really expect me to believe your vague explanations about everything related to your ‘work’?”  Pearl took a deep breath.  “You say I’m really smart, did you honestly think I wouldn’t notice how none of this matches up?  You supposedly work security, but you’re constantly injured and your manager doesn’t seem to care and can easily provide stitches on site?!  That doesn’t seem like a security job at all.  Or have I just grossly underestimated how twisted work in the Embers Way district really is?  Are the rest of your co-workers this injured too?  Do injuries happen like this all the time?”  She paused for a moment to catch her breath.  “Tell me I’m wrong in my observations,” Pearl challenged.

            “The Embers Way district _is_ a dangerous place-” Garnet growled.

            “I’m going to stop you right now.” Pearl held up her hand.  “I don’t want to hear anything more about your work unless it’s the truth.  The actual truth.”  She let her statement hang in the tense atmosphere for a moment.  “If you do want to tell me what actually is going on, then you can come talk to me, but until then I don’t want to hear any more about your ‘security job’.  I’m sick of seeing you hurting and you turning around to just brush me off whenever I try to ask what happened.”

            The dancer watched as Garnet gripped the fabric of her pants with her strong hands.  She could see the frown pulling at the edge of the taller teens full lips.  For a whole minute she waited.  Waited for any sort of response from the person sitting across from her, but all Garnet did was stare at the grass; her mouth stubbornly shut.  Pearl let out a huff of air and walked away, not even sparing a glance back at the curly haired teen.  She came to another tree and leaned against it.  Angrily she wiped away the couple of tears that had made their way down her cheeks.

            _That certainly didn’t help me get ready for my next test…_

Pearl slid down the rough tree and sat on the grass.  At least being grounded from spending time at Garnet’s wasn’t going to be that much of a problem anymore.  Light blue eyes flickered over to her car sitting in the shade.  She didn’t feel like eating her lunch anymore.

 

            The smell of ink and thin, plastic coated paper sheets wafted into narrow nostrils with every inhale.  Pearl wondered if osmosis worked with textbooks and the human body.  If not, she should probably sit up and stop ruining her posture.  Dead eyes scanned her study group as Lapis was reading off another question from the study guide.  Tomorrow they all had their AP US History test.  Her last AP test.  Yesterday, physics had been a little more difficult than calculus, it had been harder to concentrate since her lashing out at Garnet had just kept repeating in her mind the entire time.

            “When did the War of 1812 end?” Lapis asked.

            “February 1815 with the Treaty of Ghent!” Jasper quickly shot out.

            “But news didn’t reach everyone in time, some fighting still happened in the gulf after it was approved by both sides,” Amethyst added.

            “Correct,” the swimmer nodded with lackluster enthusiasm.  “How many ratified amendments to the constitution are there?”

            “42?” Amethyst tried.

            “No, 23.” The buff teen stated.

            “27, you clods.  With 33 having been proposed in total, but not all were ratified,” Peridot chimed in.

            “Correct.  Which amendment is your favorite?” Lapis asked briefly looking up at the group.

            “2nd!  The right to bear arms!” Jasper grinned as she flexed, “Otherwise, I might get thrown in jail for these bad boys.”

            Everyone groaned.

            “8th, it banished excessive bail or fines, and cruel punishment,” the swimmer shrugged.

            “15th, prevents the denial of the right to vote based on color, race, or previous condition of servitude,” Amethyst grinned.  “Cause they’d be kicking me out of the booths for my beautiful complexion.”

            “Ha! But without the 19th you’d still get kicked out, which is why it’s my favorite.  It prohibits the denial of the right to vote based off of sex!” Peridot jumped in.

            They all turned to Pearl waiting for her response; only to realize she was still just resting her chin on her textbook and staring off into space.

            “Yo P!” Amethyst shouted as she slammed her hands onto the table not far from the dancer’s face.  “Which is your favorite amendment?”

            She jerked back, bringing her hands up to defend herself.  “Oh um…” she blushed lightly.  “The 13th, it abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.  Unless it’s punishment for a crime…”

            “Not bad,” the platinum blonde nodded.  “But you sure were somewhere else, what’s eating you?”

            “Nothing is eating me, unless there is a mosquito on me,” Pearl quickly scanned her body.  “There isn’t one on me right?  I hate mosquitos.”

            “Dude, we’re inside.”

            “Mosquitos can get inside too,” Pearl glared at the short, plump teen.

            “Any way, why were you so far away?”

            “It’s nothing, just tired.  It’s been a long week.”

            “Riiiight, lemme guess it has something to do with our missing member?  G-man?”

            Pearl frowned.  “We haven’t talked at all this week, except for a little on Wednesday after the calculus test.”

            “Same here,” Amethyst shrugged, “G’s going through a little bit of a rough time, she just gets quiet whenever that happens.  Don’t take it personal.”

            “How do I know it’s not personal?”

            “Umm, cause she’s been avoiding everyone and even _I_ haven’t heard anything from her since Tuesday.  Look, I don’t know everything that’s going on right now, but when Garnet’s ready she’ll come back and maybe explain what was going on.”

            “And how do you know that?” Pearl raised her eyebrow skeptically.

            “Ugh!” Amethyst rolled her eyes.  “Cause I’ve known G-man since as long as I can remember!  It’s what she does.  You know she’s naturally quiet, but when shit’s going down, she gets even more so.”

            Pearl looked away.  “It feels personal, like she’s keeping a secret from me no matter how I try to ask.”

            “You can’t force it, that just makes Garnet freak out.  Internally.  When her parents died, Garnet didn’t talk to anyone for over two weeks.  She just stayed shut in the master bedroom day and night.  Didn’t want anyone to come in or talk to her.  Jaune was barely able to get her to eat semi-consistently.  Then one day she came out.  True she didn’t talk a whole lot about her feelings, but she caught back up with school and we played together again.”

            Everyone at the table stared at Amethyst.

            “That’s…” Jasper began.

            “Not very healthy,” Lapis finished.

            “Hey, I’m not going to shoot down G-man’s method for dealing with personal feelings, it seems to be working for her so far,” the tan teen raised her hands up in defense.  She turned to Pearl.  “You’ll know if she’s mad at you.  She can give quite the cold shoulder.  Something I think she learned from her mother Sapphire.  That woman could freeze an entire room.”

            The dancer folded her arms and glared down at her textbook.  “She still didn’t have to lie to me.”

            “What did she lie to you about?” Amethyst said in a dramatic tone.

            “Her work.”

            “You mean her security job?”

            “Stop covering for her,” Jasper growled.  “You know she’s Fusion.”

            “Wha-what?!  Who is Fusion?!” Amethyst stammered.

            “The fighter in the Ember Colosseum, the one you and Jasper watched get smacked around with a chair last Saturday,” Lapis stated.

            “That was not her, Jasper, I _told_ you that wasn’t her.”

            “Give it a rest!  I know what Garnet looks like, how she moves, and her eye color matches; I even confirmed that with Pearl,” Jasper countered

            The tan teenager folded her arms and looked between each of her friends.  “Fine!  Garnet is Fusion, happy?!”

            “No.  Why is she even fighting in a place like that to begin with?” Jasper pushed.

            “I don’t know all the details, ok?  But she needs the money and Yellow Diamond made an arrangement with her so she could make good money whenever she wins.  Look, I’ve been worried about her too, I had no idea she’d had five fights in a row, I thought she had gotten some time to rest on a couple of those weekends.”

            “Who is Yellow Diamond?” Pearl spoke up.

            “I don’t know,” Amethyst looked away.

            “Amethyst.”

            “I _don’t_ know!  G won’t tell me.  All I know is that she’s some rich corporate lady.”

            Pearl sighed.

            “And this stays in the group, don’t go running your mouth and telling people,” Amethyst added.  “It’s G-man choice to do this and it’ll piss her off if people mess with her business.  And trust me, you don’t want to see her mad.”

            The dancer looked off to the side.  She still wanted to hear it from Garnet.

            “So I should wait,” Pearl finally stated.

            Amethyst nodded.  “Garnet will come around when this all gets sorted out.  Don’t worry, she’s a big girl and can take care of herself.  If not she’s always got Jaune who can make a few calls and fix just about anything.”

            The pale teen wasn’t wholly convinced, but it was all she could do at the moment.  Forcing an answer out of Garnet right now was not going to yield good results.

            “Who was the 12th president of the US?” Lapis read in monotone.

            “Abraham Lincoln!  No wait he’s the 16th…” Amethyst frowned.

            “Andrew Jackson,” Peridot tried.

            “Zachary Taylor,” the swimmer corrected.

            “Why do we need to know that?” the short nerd complained.

            Lapis simply shrugged.

 

            Jaune walked into the familiar small home with a manila envelope and her briefcase.  It had taken several days, but everything had been sorted out financially.  As promised, the three other Diamonds paid up their bet and she carefully deposited the money in installments to the right accounts.  She looked around, Garnet should be back from her last AP test.  Earlier that afternoon the teen had refused a ride by silently grabbing her keys and leaving the house while Jaune was mid-sentence.  The guardian had been sure to take her lunch at the time she knew Garnet needed to be over to the community building for the test.  Evidently her offer was not wanted.  Light hazel eyes turned towards the dark teen’s room.  As she walked towards the room she grabbed an icepack from the freezer.  The other occupant in the house was laying on her bed, facing the door.

            “I’m back,” she tried as she walked over and offered the cold item.

            Garnet took it and set it on her side.

            “How was the test?”

            No response.

            “Are you hungry?” she asked after a moment.

            Nothing.

            “How is your head doing?  Or your ribs?”

            Jaune pinched the bridge of her nose as Garnet rolled onto her back to face the ceiling.

            “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

            A small grimace crossed the teen’s face.

            The businesswoman pulled up the chair from the desk and sat down, running her long fingers through her short hair.

            “Look.  I’ve finished all of the money transactions.  The debt is paid off.  This manila envelope is the deed to your house, and contains the paperwork to sign off the transfer of ownership.  I’ve already signed my spots; you just need to sign yours.  Also, the next time you check your banking account you’ll see the rest of the money you earned.”

            Garnet took the offered envelope and opened it.  For several minutes she read over the documents contained inside.  She pushed herself into a sitting position to go grab a pen when Jaune offered one to her.  The curly haired teen took it and signed off on the necessary spots.

            “Did you have any questions about any of the sections or how it’s worded?  Legal paperwork is a pain to interpret sometimes,” the businesswoman offered.

            “Technically ownership can’t be transferred over to me until I’m eighteen, right?  For now, it’s still under your management as my guardian.”

            “Yes.  Even though it’s paid in full, since you are still a minor the state law requires that a legal guardian manage the estate until you are eighteen.  But I want you to have all of the paperwork so when your birthday comes in January you don’t have to wait.”

            Garnet nodded.  “Have you found a counselor yet?”

            “For what?”

            “Your gambling addiction.”

            “I don’t need to go to counseling, Garnet,” Jaune objected.

            “And I don’t need to go to surgery tomorrow to fix my broken ribs,” Garnet stated lowly.

            Jaune closed her mouth and looked at the floor; pinching the bridge of her nose again.  “Fine, by the time you wake up from your surgery I’ll have an appointment set up.  Deal?”

            “And you’ll go right?”

            “Yes.”

            The curly haired teen nodded.  “Deal.”

            “Do you want anything to eat?” Jaune tried again.

            “Maybe later.”

            “Alright, just remember Dr. Curtis instructed you not to eat any more after twelve hours before your surgery tomorrow.  So before you go to bed you should get a decent meal.”

            Garnet stood up and walked out of the room with the manila envelope in her hand.  Jaune watched as the teenager stepped into the master bedroom and closed the door behind her.  The guardian stared up at the ceiling and sighed heavily.  At least Garnet had spoken to her this time.

 

            Garnet stepped lightly on the carpet in the still room.  She kneeled down at the foot of the bed and presented the envelope in front of her like an offering.

            “It’s all paid off.  I was able to do it,” the curly haired teenager began.  “We have our house now.”  She looked up into the air, trying to make something of the silence surrounding her.  “This is what you would have wanted right?  For this debt to be paid off and for this house to be ours?”

            The silence said nothing.

            “I-I wanted to do this for you two.  You gave me a family, you wanted me, you loved me.  I paid it off the only way I could think of how to.  I know it cost me a lot of pain, but it was worth it to make you two proud.  You are proud of me right?”

            Tears slowly began to make their way down her square cheeks.  Garnet took off her sunglasses.

            “Was I a fool?”  She paused.  “I let her push me to keep fighting.  I thought I was honoring your name, but in the end I was just being used.  I never thought she would do that to me.  We’re family, doesn’t she love me?  Why would she hurt me like this?”

            The dark teen rested her head in her hand as soft sobs painfully shook her frame.

            “I can’t see anything straight; it’s all so jumbled in my mind.  All of my friends are worried about me and I just don’t know what to say.  I freeze when they ask me questions and all my thoughts don’t sound right.  Pearl doesn’t want to speak to me anymore,” she whispered.  “I don’t know what to do!   I can’t bear to lose her too!  She’s strong and composed and I’ve hurt her.  I kept lying to keep this all hidden.”

            Garnet stared at her hands; clenching them into fists.

            “Should I tell her?  But she might hate me for it!  Why would she want to be friends with someone who beats others up for money?  Please!  What should I do?!”

            When the room failed to provide an answer, the teen gripped her thick curls, sobbing bitterly.

            “Please…”

            As the teenager kneeled there crying, she could have sworn she felt a hand on each of her shoulders.  She didn’t know if it was the drugs she was on or not.  Small hands grabbed hers and pulled them away from her hair.

            _We love you Garnet.  We are proud of you for how hard you’ve worked.  No secret is worth destroying a special relationship or friendship._

“I feel so alone,” she whispered.

            _We know.  We wish so bad that we could be there for you so you’d never feel alone.  We love you, don’t ever forget that._

The feeling of the hands slowly dissipated.  Garnet hugged herself as she cried out the rest of her tears.  She didn’t know what do to about Jaune just yet, but she did know how she was going to respond to Pearl.  The dark teen took a deep breath.  She knew what she was going to do and it scared her deeply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know cliffhanger, don't hate me ok? It will get resolved, everything. The next chapter will be titled "The Truth".


	27. The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously had to resist titling this chapter "The Truth Hertz", lol. Anyway here is the chapter you all have been waiting for! (Hopefully...)
> 
> And like before /*** signals the begging and ***\ signals the end of things that people may want to skip for mild sensuality. (Not much tho)

^^^^^^

Garnet and Pearl talk.

^^^^^^

 

            It took longer than Garnet wanted to get ready to talk to Pearl.  After making up her mind while in the master bedroom, she wasted no time.  Garnet changed as quickly as she could and headed out.  She glanced at her wrist watch.  [6:05].  Pearl should be done with dance lessons and it wasn’t quite dinner time.  It was now or never.

Garnet stared at the foreboding, familiar, wooden door.  She swallowed thickly before quickly knocking on the door and shoving her hands back into the pockets of her basketball warm-ups.  Mr. Tancerz opened the door and leveled her with a displeased gaze; not making any movements to welcome her in.

            _This is going to be great…_

“Is Pearl here?  I would like to talk to her,” Garnet stated.  She hated how weak and unsure her voice sounded.

            “I’ll see if she is available.”

            With that the door was closed and the man stepped away.  The dark teen sighed heavily and bounced on the balls of her feet.  After a minute the door opened again to reveal Pearl with her father protectively hovering off to her side.

            “Pearl,” Garnet quickly squashed the smile forming on her face from just seeing her.  She could quickly tell that Pearl was not entirely happy to see her.  “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

            “What?”  The dancers tone had a slight edge to it.

            “About my work.”

            The red head crossed her arms across her chest.  “You remember what I said about your work on Wednesday?”

            “Yes.  I’m here to tell you the truth.”

            “Alright,” Pearl nodded as she stepped to the side to allow for Garnet to step in.

            The dark teen cautiously walked inside, keeping her distance from Pearl’s father.  “Would it be alright if we talked in your room?”

            “I prefer if you two stay in an open area,” Mr. Tancerz spoke up.

            “I only came here to talk to Pearl,” Garnet countered.  “I’d much rather do it in private.”

            He shook his head.  “You two have already had plenty of private time.”

            The curly haired teen stared at Pearl in confusion.

            “I told my parents about your living situation, they weren’t too pleased that I hadn’t mentioned it earlier or the fact that we had been spending time alone.  For the time being I’m grounded from going over to your place,” Pearl looked off to the side.

            “What?  Ok, so you’re grounded from going over to my place, how does it apply to a private conversation?”  Garnet objected.

            “You haven’t been the best of influences on my daughter, I intend to keep you in my sight,” Pearl’s father sternly stated.

            “So we’ll keep the door open,” Garnet growled.  “But I’m not saying this to an audience.”

            “How about this?” Pearl stepped in.  “We’ll talk in the living room where it’s open, and you can keep an eye on us from another room.”

            “But not the kitchen, that’s too close.”

            Mr. Tancerz stiffened and frowned deeper at Garnet’s addition.  Before he could speak the dark teen continued.

            “Pearl can tell you everything I say afterwards, but I’m here to tell her because I want her to know.”

            A tense few moments passed as the two opposing sides squared off.

            “Fine, you two can use the living room.  I’ll keep watch from the dining room,” Pearl’s father conceded.

            “Thank you.”  It came out a little more forced than she wanted it to, but Garnet didn’t feel like putting any more effort into it.

            The two teenagers walked into the living room.  Garnet stood by the empty fireplace facing Pearl who stood watching her with a guarded expression and her arms crossed over her chest.  The taller teen took a deep breath and tried to calm her frantic nerves.

            “I wanted to show you what I do for work,” Garnet began.

            “Alright,” Pearl permitted.

            Garnet carefully bent down and removed her shoes and socks with her fingerless fighting gloved hands.  She took hold of the waistband of her basketball warm-up pants.

            “I have shorts on under this,” Garnet quickly informed when she noticed Pearl’s raised eyebrow.

            The red sweat pants were removed to reveal the black and yellow fighting shorts.  Garnet tossed the pants aside and took one last steadying breath before unzipping her red hoodie and adding it to the pile.  She didn’t look at Pearl as she removed her sunglasses and pulled her hair back into a bun.  Limbs moved automatically into a loose fighter’s stance.  Mismatched irises opened to focus on Pearl.  The pale teen didn’t seem completely surprised, but her eyes were intensely mapping out every detail of Garnet’s uniform.

            Slowly Pearl stepped forward and brushed her hands lightly across the strong spandex fabric covering Garnet’s broad shoulders.  Long fingers trailed down ghosting over her sides before taking a hold on the rough fabric of the shorts and rubbing it between her digits.  Pearl raised her hands up to further inspect the gloves covering most of Garnet’s hands.  She pulled them down from their defensive position and turned them palm up, fingers running from her wrist to the tips of Garnet’s fingers.  The dark teen inhaled quickly.  Her hands became hot from the light touch.  Light blue eyes looked up into hers before they dropped down to focus on the simple symbol imprinted into the yellow fabric.  Pearl reached out and brushed her fingers over the diamond.

            “This is who I am,” Garnet stated.  “I am a fighter named Fusion who fights in The Ember Colosseum; the place Amethyst and Jasper go to.”  She closed her fists and Pearl stepped back, not saying anything.  “I fight for Yellow Diamond, one of the four operators of the place.  I am her Champion.  For every fight I win I get paid a percentage of what she gambles on the outcome.  Every time I lose, I lose the same percentage of what she bet.  All of those times I told you that I was going to work, I was fighting a match.  That’s why I’ve been getting all of these injuries.  Amethyst knows, I told her not too long after I started doing this about two and a half years ago.  In the mornings before school I have my training for this.  That’s why I’m always so early for math.  It starts very early in the morning and covers all aspects of my fighting game in just two hours.  Some days it’s ground work, other days it’s striking; other days it’s conditioning.  The security job was just a cover up for being unavailable and for any injuries I would potentially get.  Normally I would fight once every other month or so, but this year Yellow Diamond pushed me a lot.  I didn’t mind at first, I was making good money, but it got out of hand with all of the events of the past month and a half.”  Garnet looked up at Pearl, trying to read her reaction.

            The dancer still had her poker face on.

            “What is really wrong with your ribs?” Pearl spoke after a moment.

            “Two were broken, two were cracked in my fight last Saturday.  The real reason why I didn’t text you after my fight to tell you that I was ok, was because I wasn’t ok.  I was at the hospital until one or so in the morning.  By that time, I had no energy to send you a message.”

            “And I’m assuming you got the stitches that same night too?  I would have noticed those.”

            “Yes.  It was a bad fight.  I did win, but not easily.”

            Pearl breathed out heavily and looked off to the side.

            “I also have a concussion,” Garnet added.

            The red head put a hand to her mouth and shook her head.  After a moment she looked back at the curly haired teen.

            “Have your ribs been taken care of?  Will they heal properly how they are?”

            “No.  I go in for surgery tomorrow to get the two put back into place.  The cracked ones will heal properly on their own.  The Vicodin helps keep the pain at a tolerable level; after the surgery I should be completely healed in about two months.”

            “Garnet,” Pearl painfully whispered.  She reached out to brush a couple of stray black curls away from the line of stitches.  “Why did you hide this from me?  You know how much I care about you.”

            “I haven’t known you for very long, I didn’t know how you would react.  I thought you would reject me for doing this,” the dark teen looked away.

            “True, we just met this school year.  But I want you to trust me and I want to be able to trust you.  I want to know when you’re hurting or need help.  I want to be your rock; someone you can rely on.”  Pearl paused for a moment and withdrew her hand; clutching it in front of her chest.  “I don’t know how I feel about the fighting, honestly I’m quite a bit upset, but that’s mostly from you lying to me and for you getting seriously injured.”

            “How do I know you won’t leave?  It’s hard enough to be open about this, but how do I know you won’t disappear just like everyone else?”  Frustrated tears ran from pained eyes.

            Pearl stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Garnet.  She rested her head against the taller teen’s collarbone.  Garnet’s hands just hung limply at her sides.

            “No one knows.  I could disappear tomorrow,” Pearl whispered.  “But I do know this, I want to be there for you.  For when times are good, bad, easy, hard, etc.  It’s scary for me too how much you’ve impacted my life in just this short amount of time.  I’m not going to reject you for this, I’m not going to willingly disappear from your life.”  The dancer leaned back and cupped Garnet’s jaw.  “Please let me in.  I want to know.”

            The dark teenager stared at her with furrowed eyebrows for a long moment.  Strong arms came up to envelop the pale teen in a tight embrace.  Garnet buried her face into the crook of Pearl’s neck.  She placed a couple of kisses along the thin neck.  After a minute or so Garnet stepped back.

            “Alright,” Garnet nodded.

            “Tell me everything,” Pearl said.

            “Everything?”

            “Everything,” Pearl nodded.

            “Ok,” the fighter breathed out.

            The dancer sat down in front of the couch and motioned for the other to join her.  Garnet carefully laid down, resting her head in Pearl’s lap.  Long fingers ran through thick black curls as the words slowly spilled from Garnet’s thick lips.  How the debt was a loan on the house to Yellow Diamond and that Ruby had begun fighting to help make larger payments.  How Garnet had taken up the idea and negotiated with Yellow Diamond to let her do the same.  How Yellow Diamond had provided the means for her to train and compete.  How Amethyst had found out and had been more or less bribed to stay quiet about it by giving her a pass to any matches with free food.  How the fights had been spaced out and manageable at first, but slowly had become more frequent.  How she had lost in the rough five to one cage match.  How Yellow Diamond had taken the huge bet of one million dollars upon Fusion winning the four matches weekend after weekend; right after the hard loss.  How Jaw Breaker had a special mouth guard and the chair in the cage.  How angry and confused she had felt after discovering the bet.  With each sentence Garnet could feel the weight lifting from her shoulders and falling into oblivion.  Mismatched eyes closed as the taller teen breathed deeply, savoring the soothing feeling of Pearl’s fingers running across her scalp; when they didn’t get stuck in a tight curl.

            Eyes reopened to look up at the pale teen’s concerned expression.  A small smile formed on her thin lips before she leaned down and placed a kiss off to the side of Garnet’s stitches.

            “Thank you,” the thin teenager softly spoke.  “For telling me.”

            The curly haired teen smiled and reached up to pull Pearl down towards her.  It felt like it had been too long since she had last kissed her.  When Pearl was just inches away, she resisted lightly on Garnet’s gentle pull.  The darker teen frowned slightly.

            “I should be open with you as well.  Jasper texted me on Sunday asking me about your eye color and then when I told her, she told me that she knew what you were really doing for your ‘job’.”  Pearl looked away as Garnet frowned.  “I didn’t want to believe it at first, but I already had my suspicions when I had talked with Rose after school last Friday.”

            “You talked to Rose?”

            “Yes, after seeing how badly injured your side was, I had to tell someone!  She was surprised and didn’t think your work would put you in that much danger.  Needless to say, after looking at your work permit we both decided that more digging needed to be done to determine what was really going on.”

            “How much does she know?” Garnet said lowly, her body tensing slightly.

            “We talked again on Monday.  I told her everything Jasper had told me,” Pearl admitted.

            The dark teen groaned and put her hands on her face.

            “I was worried about you!  You weren’t telling me the truth.  You were injured - I had to talk to someone.  Rose was the only one I could talk to.  It’s not like I had a way to contact your guardian.”  Pearl paused and became lost in thought.  “Garnet?”

            “Hm?”

            “What is your guardian’s name again?”

            “Jaune Simmons.”

            “Why did she sign off on your work permit?  Does she know that you’re fighting?”

            “Well…wait, when did you see my work permit?  That stuff is kept in a file.”

            Pearl blushed with embarrassment.  “I read it over when Rose had set in on her desk.  I noticed that Jaune Simmons had signed off as your manager.”

            “That’s supposed to be private Pearl!” Garnet complained.

            “I needed answers!  You weren’t giving me the real ones.  I want to see for myself why Rose was confused when I told her you worked in the Embers Way district.  Garnet, why did she sign off on that?”

            “Not today,” the tall teen lowly stated.

            “What?!  Why?”

            “It’s already been a bit of a stretch to tell you all of this.  Maybe another day.”

            Pearl frowned.  “Ok…” she eventually conceded.  “Though I can’t understand why your guardian would let you do something as dangerous as this.”

            Garnet was quiet.  They sat there for a few minutes, the dancer running her fingers through her black curls.

            “I wanted to ask,” Pearl began, briefly looking away.  “Who is Yellow Diamond?”

            Garnet visibly flinched.  She turned her head to stare at the carpet.

            “Not today,” the tall teen restated.

            Pearl deflated with disappointment.

            The curly haired teen looked back at Pearl, a small reassuring smile on her face.  “Maybe once I’ve had some time to recover from all of this,” she said as she gestured to her side and the room.

            “I guess I can work with that.  But please tell me she isn’t going to manipulate you like this again and that you’re done fighting?  Well you don’t even need to fight for her anymore, the debt is paid in full.”

            “No, I won’t be fighting for a long time.  I don’t know if I will fight for her again or not.  I’ll have to see when the time comes.”

            “Wait, you’re still considering continuing fighting even after all of that?!”  Pearl quietly yelled.

            “Well I-” Garnet flushed.  “It is fun.  And I’m really good at it,” she tried to reason.  “Look, I’m not sure.  If I ever do fight for Yellow Diamond, I’ll be in much more control of who and when I fight, along with any bets being made.”

            Pearl rolled her eyes.  “ _If_ you ever do start fighting again, will you please let me know?”

            “I will,” Garnet nodded.

            “I don’t know how I feel about it, but I’d rather be informed instead of not.”

            “I’m not going to make that mistake twice,” came a low chuckle.

            The dancer smiled and leaned down and placed a couple of kisses on Garnet’s face.

            “Good,” she smirked.

            Garnet reached up and pulled Pearl in for a proper kiss on the lips.  /***She could feel the thinner teen sigh into the kiss as their lips moved together, slowly opening up to deepen it.  Garnet closed her eyes and let her fingers tangle themselves into Pearl’s thin soft hair.  This certainly felt much better than any pain medication she had ever taken.  She could lose herself in this feeling.  Tongues danced together as Garnet felt Pearl’s grip tighten and their mouths were pressed firmly against each other’s.***\

            “YOU TWO BETTER NOT BE GETTING TOO COMFORTABLE IN THERE!” boomed Pearl’s father’s voice from the other side of the house.

            The two teenagers quickly separated, their faces heating up with embarrassment.

            “We-we’re not!” Pearl shakily called back.

            Garnet chuckled.  “You’re a terrible liar.”

            The dancer glared down at her and let out a playful huff.

            “Thank you,” the fighter spoke up after a pause.  “For listening.  And being understanding.”

            “Always,” Pearl smiled as she pressed a quick kiss to Garnet’s lips.  “No more secrets?”

“No more secrets,” Garnet nodded.  “Unless I get you a gift or something, I’m not going to spoil a surprise.”

Pearl rolled her eyes and laughed briefly.  “You can keep those secrets, just no more of these ones that hurt you or put you in dangerous situations or make you feel like you can’t tell anyone, ok?”

“No more of those.”

“Thank you,” Pearl let out a sigh of relief.  “Will you text me after your surgery tomorrow?  Let me know how it goes?”

            “I’ll try to.  I don’t know how out of it I will be, but here,” Garnet grabbed her phone out of her warm-up pants.  “I’ll set a reminder.  That way I’ll a least let you know by this time,” she finished as she showed Pearl.

            “Thank you,” the dancer softly smiled.

            The dark teen smiled.

            _No secret is worth losing Pearl, I’m glad I told her.  Thank you Mums for giving me the guidance I needed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked this chapter. Also, the next four chapters will be coming in three-four day installments, so be ready for some fun and a ton of information!


	28. A Look into the Past Part One: Building a Business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that things have calmed down with our characters, let's take a journey back and find out just how did this all come about? A lot of time and information will be covered!
> 
> ****** will signal the start and end of the flashback.

^^^^^^

Waiting rooms are quiet, boring, and often lead to wandering thoughts.

^^^^^^

 

            A white R8 Audi coupe stopped in one of the parking stalls near the medical building.  Jaune walked with Garnet inside and had the teen checked in for her surgery.  Dr. Curtis had explained the whole process.  One incision to let him insert the special moldable polymer and use it to lock the two broken ribs back into place.  It was a newer technique that had begun to slowly replace the traditional plates and screws.  Some people were still skeptical on using the type of internal cast that would dissolve after two months of being inside a body.  The rates of success were high and patients didn’t have to have a second surgery to remove the hardware or deal with plates and screws in their body.  Garnet opted for this instead of the metal hardware.  She didn’t have any qualms and was confident in the procedure and Dr. Curtis.  It had definitely helped that Dr. Curtis was one of the doctors that had worked to pioneer this new medical procedure.  He was no stranger to the internal, dissolvable cast.  Jaune backed up the teen’s decision 100%.

            As the nurse called Garnet back Jaune wished her good luck and told her that she would be there for her when she woke up.  Garnet nodded and assured her everything would go well.  The wooden door shut and Jaune found herself with three or so hours of white walls and thinly padded seats.  She sighed and rested her chin in her hand.  Slowly the mess she had created was being cleaned up.  In a few more months Garnet would be recovered, and hopefully by then they would have been able to work through the distance that had formed and become the family they were a few years ago.  The first few orders of business were to start counseling for her gambling addiction and to move back into Garnet’s house.  It had been different to wake up in the second bedroom this past week, but it had been a good change.  She wasn’t waking up to a quiet manicured house, but to a home where her family was.  Jaune smiled as she recalled the time when she first acquired a roommate.

 

******

 

            Housing was expensive.  Renting was expensive.  Starting a business and taking college classes at the same time was expensive.  Jaune Simmons eventually conceded that she needed to stretch her money by moving into a two-bedroom apartment and collaborating with someone on the rent.  As a twenty-one year old at the time, who was used to living on her own, the idea was less than thrilling.  When she had turned eighteen and had not shown any interest in a college to attend after graduating from high school, she had been kicked out of her family’s house and told that she would be welcomed back once she proved herself worthy.  Jaune had no interest in college, instead, she had an idea and a skill with computers and coding.  For the first couple of years she worked at fast food restaurant chains to supply her income.  Each night she would come home and code until she fell asleep.  After two years of this and considerable progress in her idea, she decided she needed to be able to work faster and have the knowledge on how to properly run a business.  She also needed a network, and going through her father’s was completely out of the question.  He would certainly gloat if she came back crawling to use his high up business connections.  No.  The blonde would create her vision without her rich family ties or finances.

            After being accepted to a college and moving, Jaune found that her funds were being stretched thin as she tried to just live on her own while working part-time, going to classes part-time, while giving every last available second she had to her infant company.

            It took only a day after moving into the two-bedroom apartment and putting out an ad that there came a knock on the door.  Jaune had been fairly blunt in her ad, so hopefully that scared away any less than desirable roommates.  The tall blonde woman opened the door and looked out, only to have to look down to meet the eyes of a short, stocky, curly haired young woman.  Black curls bound with a red head band framed a tan, serious face.  She wore black basketball shorts, a red tank top, and a pair of old athletic shoes.  Toned, thick arms ended where the hands were shoved into the pockets of the shorts.  Jaune could tell right away that there was a chip on her shoulder.

            “Are you Jaune Simmons?  Posting for a responsible and clean roommate?” a slightly gruff voice began.

            “Yes,” Jaune folded her arms across her chest.

            “I’m Ruby,” she held out her wide hand.  “I would like to apply for this opportunity.”

            Jaune nodded, and took the hand.  They shared a firm handshake.

            “Come in,” the blonde motioned.

            Ruby walked in and looked around the apartment briefly before turning to face the other woman.

            “I have a job, I can pay half of the rent and utilities.  I clean up after myself, especially my dishes.”

            “Good,” Jaune nodded.  “And are you willing to room with someone who will probably won’t want to be disturbed most of the time I’m home?  That would include keeping the TV and music to a reasonable level.”

            “Yeah, I can work with that.  I tend to rant or shout when I get upset, so I hope that doesn’t become a problem.”

            “You have your own room for that.  They are fairly insulated, but not sound proof.  All of the furnishings you see belong to me.  Don’t use any of my dishes or kitchen ware without asking first.  I’ll expect you to manage your own cleaning of the second bathroom and bedroom.  On everything else that we both use, we’ll divide and rotate responsibilities.  Sound fair?”

            “Yeah,” Ruby nodded, looking to the side.  “I have one thing I want to mention.”

            “What?”

            “I have a girlfriend.”

            Jaune blinked.  Ruby was watching her reaction very closely through slightly narrowed eyes and arms folded across her flat chest.

            “Just keep your PDA in check.  I won’t say anything about a little cuddling or kissing, but you have your own room; that is your space to do whatever you want in.”

            “Oh…yeah we’ll be good about that, you don’t have to worry about that,” Ruby’s voice brightened considerably.

            The blonde could see the chip on her shoulder slowly falling away.

            “So I have some stuff, most I’ll be buying soon.  It’s my first time living on my own so I’m not as well stocked as you are.  This coming fall I’ll be starting classes at Delmarva State University, so will my girlfriend Sapphire.”

            “Understandable.  May I ask how old are you?”

            “Eighteen.  You?”

            “Twenty-one.”

            “Cool,” Ruby rubbed the back of her neck and looked around.  “You going to college too?”

            “Yes, part-time at Delmarva University,” Jaune said flatly.

            “What are you studying?”

            “Business.”

            Ruby smacked her forehead.  “Now the whole signing a contract makes sense!  This whole roommate thing is like a business proposition to you, right?”

            Jaune cracked a smile at that.  “It is, this way I am bound to keep my end of the deal, as are you.”

            The shorter burst up laughing at a higher pitch than Jaune would have expected given the gruff voice that had originally greeted her.  The blonde’s smile widened a bit, it flowing more to her tired eyes.

            “Are you ok with that?  I have it written up, you can read it over and everything.”

            Ruby’s laughter increased and she doubled over.  “You, have, it, written, up, and, everything?!” she got out between laughs.

            “Yes,” Jaune grumbled.  She didn’t like being laughed at.

            The curly haired young adult punched Jaune in the arm as she stood up and recovered from her fit of amusement.  The taller stiffened from the intrusive contact.

            “Well if we’re both signing this contract then I shouldn’t have to worry about you kicking me out for some ridiculous reason,” Ruby grinned widely, showing off two rows of naturally straight teeth.  “Let’s look over this contract, Miss Business.”

            “It’s Jaune,” the blonde smiled.

 

            Having Ruby as a roommate worked out much better than Jaune had originally thought.  True to her word, the shorter young adult kept up with the monthly payments and the necessary cleaning.  It didn’t take long to find out that she had been kicked out of her family’s house when she came out about her sexuality and refused to participate in any of their suggested methods to help her “fix the issue”.  While Jaune couldn’t relate to the sexuality part, she did understand how it felt to have one’s family turn her away.  Despite the hard time Ruby was going through, she was positive and determined to succeed.  She was expressive and loud at times, occasionally sparking an argument between the two over small things as they adjusted to living in each other’s space, but they were always able to resolve their differences.  Jaune would use the higher shelves to store her things so Ruby could put hers on the lower ones.  Ruby had a terrible sense of humor, mostly consisting of puns and things that made Jaune put her face into her hand.  At the end of the day the blonde enjoyed the exciting company Ruby offered.  Meeting Sapphire for the first time had been interesting as well.  Jaune's new roommate was moving her things in and was seen accompanied by another young adult.

            “Hello,” she greeted monotonously.

            “Hello,” Jaune replied.

            She was just as short as Ruby, but was completely different in how she acted and dressed.  Long, dyed-blonde hair flowed down her back and over her eyes.  A blue, summer dress with a sash around the middle and puffy sleeves was her choice of attire.  The colors of her hair and clothing contrasted well with her dark skin.  She held herself in a proper manner, indicating a strict upbringing, probably not too different than Jaune’s.

            “I’m Jaune Simmons, Ruby’s roommate,” the taller opted to introduce herself first.

            “I know,” came the soft voice before she turned and walked back towards the old car that contained Ruby’s stuff.

            Jaune just simply stared, mouth slightly hanging open.  Ruby walked in carrying a large box.  She set it on the table with a huff.  The long-haired blonde was back carrying an armful of clothes, walking quickly into Ruby’s room to deposit them.

“That’s Sapphire by the way,” Ruby said.  “My girlfriend!”

“I guessed,” Jaune nodded.

Sapphire was heading back out the door in mere seconds.  Ruby smiled and sighed, a light blush forming on her cheeks as she watched her walk by.

            “She’s beautiful,” Ruby gushed towards Jaune.

            The tallest didn’t really know what to say at first.  “I-well… I’m happy for you.”

            Sapphire crossed their line of vision yet again with another armful of clothes.

            “She’s very fast…” Jaune noted.

            “Oh yeah!  Don’t ever challenge her to a foot race, she’ll leave you in the dust.”

            “Ruby,” came the level voice as Sapphire was exiting once again.  The quick young adult glanced over her shoulder at the other.

            “Coming!” Ruby grinned as she jogged over to her.

            Jaune shook her head and decided to offer her help.  With the three of them it didn’t take long to move the few things Ruby had into the apartment.  The two lovebirds sorted through and put things away as Jaune stepped into the master bedroom to work on her product.

 

            Sapphire became a regular visitor and it eventually became weird to see Ruby in the apartment without Sapphire being at least a few feet away.  If they weren’t with each other it was usually because of classes, work, family, or an argument.  Thankfully the later didn’t happen much at all.  Ruby and Sapphire were also good about keeping their PDA in check, most of the time.  The two were huge flirts with each other; mostly consisting of Ruby telling Sapphire one of her jokes that would send Sapphire into a fit of giggles and rich laughter, or Sapphire playfully teasing Ruby to get her flustered.  Jaune didn’t mind, the two were steadily becoming good friends of hers and were always happy to see her.  On multiple occasions they offered Jaune to join them in either cooking for the night, or going someplace fun with other friends of theirs.  Jaune would usually take them up on the cooking offers, since she was quite a good cook and liked showing off, and only on occasions would she participate in the group activities.  Sapphire encouraged Jaune one night to come with her to watch Ruby’s boxing match.  Ruby was one of the boxers for the Delmarva State University team and competed in the featherweight class.  Sapphire reasoned that Jaune needed a break from all of her hard work every now and then.  The taller eventually conceded.

            Ruby’s match was exciting and fast paced.  Though the curly haired boxer had a height disadvantage, she was able to weave through her opponent’s defenses and deliver powerful combos.  She was sturdy and nimble on her feet.  Jaune was surprised at how much she understood of the sport.  As they celebrated Ruby’s victory at an ice cream shop later, Jaune looked back and remembered all of the boxing and MMA she had seen her father watch.  The blonde turned her mind to the present and congratulated the victor by paying for everyone’s shakes.  It became a tradition for the three of them.  Whenever Ruby had a match, Sapphire and Jaune would attend.  With each victory Jaune would cover the expenses of the celebratory meal or treat they would get.  If Ruby lost, then Jaune would give the two the space they wanted.

 

            Life got very busy.  Investors began fueling Jaune’s company and she finally launched Information Link on a wider scale just as she graduated with an MBA and a minor in Computer Science.  She was barely at the apartment as she would spend all of her time at the recently purchased building taking care of all the things that came with running a new business.  The networks she established while in college and putting herself out there were paying off as things continued to grow.  Soon she was hiring several engineers and computer science wizzes to expand her product and maintain the smooth operation of the existing product.  Jaune no longer worked fast food and was solely reliant on her company’s success to provide money for rent and food.  By the time she was twenty-six her company already had fifty employees and had several hundred customers.  The original product had been firewall technology, with the second being a platform to easily share information and collaborate on papers or other forms of information in a secure space.  Jaune’s dreams were being realized day by day.  However, there was something missing from her vision, something she had wanted to look into.

            Jaune’s father was a successful businessman who traveled often.  Some of the more common places he traveled to was the Northeast.  He would come back and share with her some of the meetings and social events he attended for his business.  Her other siblings weren’t as interested in the business talk, but Jaune found it fascinating.  One thing that crept up in his tales when she was in high school were of attending an underground fighting venue full of exciting matches and reduced regulations.  It was this that Jaune wanted to find and see for herself.

            It took several weeks to eventually get information about a colosseum located in a bad part of Delmarva.  The Embers Way district in Copper Cove.  She found her way to the entrance one Saturday and stepped through the guarded metal doors.  Inside was, in Jaune’s opinion, a wasted potential.  Customers were complaining about the lack of quick service, poor visibility, horrible bookies, and low sanitation standards.  It didn’t seem like the place was hurting for funds, it just seemed that the funds were not being applied properly and there weren’t enough standards for those who serviced the customers to follow.  Regardless, the fights were entertaining, though often there were poor matchups that led to a clean sweep with no real entertainment provided.  Some matches ran up to forty minutes long as some fighters failed to finish the other off.  Jaune watched for the next few Saturdays taking in as much information about the place as possible.  Security was abysmal, she hacked into the computer server within minutes and could have exploited the whole booking set up to throw off the payouts, debts, and the wagebrokers vigorish.  Police were also constantly interrupting the show searching for a drug dealer or some bookie.  Usually they were handled with a wad of cash and a slick promise that the suspect was not there.

            After two months Jaune decided what she wanted to do with the place.  The next Saturday Jaune walked up to the heavily guarded booth overlooking the entire colosseum.  The two body guards standing by the door regarded her with deep frowns and flexed arms.

            “What business do you have coming here?” the one on the right growled at her.

            “A business proposition to White and Blue Diamond,” Jaune stated firmly, standing to her full height, plus some with heels.

            He barked out a laugh.  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, go back to your seat.”

            She was expecting that.  “That’s unfortunate, I was going to inform them as well that their network can be hacked into and traced by about any amateur within the police force.  In fact, I could do it in about two minutes.  I thought they would like to know of a way to reduce the number of times the police came knocking on the door.”

            The two body guards looked at each other.  “And what proof do you have of that?”

            “Simple,” Jaune shrugged as she opened up her bulky laptop.  “In about two minutes I’m going to make the payout for the match between Candy Rope and Metal Grinder change to 10:1 in favor of Candy Rope.”

            Two minutes passed and the digital numbers displayed refreshed showing a 10:1 in favor of Candy Rope.  Several customers in line gasped and began shouting about the sudden change.

            “Next is a 5:1 on the match between Flaming Hotstuff and Bourbon Blazer in favor of Bourbon Blazer,” Jaune continued.

            As the screens refreshed once again to show her change, more cries came out from the crowd as chaos was beginning to take control.  Out of the corner of her eye, Jaune saw one of the guards make a move for her laptop.  She quickly snapped it shut and moved out of the way of the attack.

            “What are you trying to do you little fucking bitch!” the one on the left yelled as he swung at her.

            Jaune easily avoided the punch.  “Just proving my point.  I will gladly change it back once I get to talk to your bosses.”

            “What is going on out here!” roared a voice as a woman with graying hair and a white suit opened up the door.  “What’s happening to the payouts?!”

            “White Diamond, I presume, I have a business proposition for you,” Jaune extended her hand.

            She looked Jaune over before scoffing.  “Like hell you do, go back to school.”

            Jaune opened up her laptop and changed another one of the payouts.  More cries added to the quickly growing mob.

            “You!” White rounded on her.  “What the fuck are you doing?!”

            “Merely demonstrating your lack of suitable security in an attempt to gain access to speak to you and Blue Diamond about it.”

            “Change it back!”

            “Only after I’ve had a chance to explain my proposition to you.”

            White diamond’s face became as red as a beet.  “Change it back now and then I’ll let you in,” she spat.

            “I’ll change it back once I am inside with the doors shut, but not locked, behind me.”

            “Fine!” she shouted as she walked back inside and motioned for her to follow.

            Jaune cautiously followed, waited for the doors to close, making sure no sounds of a lock being put in place, before opening up her laptop and restoring the original payouts.

            “It would probably be best to make an announcement that there was a slight technical difficulty as to why those numbers shifted like they did,” the blonde stated matter-of-factly.

            “I don’t have to do anything you say!” White shot back.

            “White,” a calm voice drifted from one of the chairs.  “Spencer, go tell the announcers that there was a slight technical difficulty that has been resolved.  All payouts will be made as they are currently listed.”

            “Yes, ma’am,” one of the internal bodyguards respectfully bowed before quickly leaving the room.

            The short-haired blonde took in the presence of the other Diamond.  Blue Diamond wore a long flowing dark blue dress and a shawl that covered most of her face.  The dress had ornate designs of sliver and shades of blue running all over.  White Diamond paced off to the side, her posture and style reeked of that of a politician.

            _No wonder this place isn’t very well organized._

“I’m assuming the commotion outside was your doing?” Blue Diamond directed to Jaune.

            “A necessity to be able to speak to the both of you,” Jaune nodded.

            “So speak already!  What is this fucking fantastic business proposition that you have for me!”

            “It’s for the both of you,” Jaune began.  “I want to help organize this place and turn it into a profitable and secure operation.  As I’ve already demonstrated, your network can be easily compromised, and the finances are not properly distributed to have the greatest effect.  Over the past couple of months, I have watched and observed this place.  I want to help make this place better.”

            “And what do you want in return?  A cut of our profits?”

            “In a way, but as an active head of this operation.”

            “WHAT?!” White burst.  “What makes you think that we’d expand our ranks to some child!”

            Jaune stood tall, she was used to being looked down on in the business world for being younger.

            “This ‘child’ managed to hack your system in minutes, that is mere the tip of what I can do.  I am offering to properly allocate the resources put into this operation for maximum returns, standardize service, and strengthen the physical and digital security.”

            “And how are you going to do that?  Call your father?”

            That weak attempt didn’t even faze her. “I am a successful business owner with resources and connections of my own that I can add to The Ember Colosseum.  Give me two months and I can prove to you what I can do.  If at the end of the two months the items I have listed are not better, then we have no deal.  But if they are, I get to become the next Diamond.”

            White Diamond scoffed.  Blue seemed intrigued.

            “I approve,” Blue Diamond spoke first.  “Show us what you are capable of.”

            “You aren’t serious Blue…” White growled.

            “I am,” she stated.  “What shall we call you?”

            Jaune smirked as she looked down at her choice of attire for the night; her favorite yellow suit.

            “You may call me Yellow.”

 

            It really only took a month to see drastic improvements to The Ember Colosseum under Jaune’s direction.  The first things put into place were a personally developed firewall and in-house servers.  Next was a standardization of the concessions stands and bookies.  Seats were upgraded and segmented, and a couple large screens were installed along with powerful speakers.  If the patrons had a hard time seeing, at least they could hear the match comments by the announcers.  Jaune also began enlisting some connections of hers to provide training to the bodyguards and general security.  In the second month Jaune reorganized all of the fighting standards and planned out for all of the existing fighters to get sorted into three levels of rings to provide more exciting match ups.  With the bookies now returning their proper cut of their earnings each night, and the improved satisfaction and attendance of the customers, the two Diamond’s pockets became filled with even more cash than before.  Despite this, White Diamond was still hesitant to allow the young businesswoman into their ranks.  They agreed to give Jaune another trial period of four months.  Jaune didn’t complain, she knew that in those four additional months they could not refuse her demands.  There were bumps in to road with individuals not wanting to comply to the new restrictions, but they either eventually accepted them or were replaced.

            Jaune’s attention was split, and her own company suffered slightly for it, however it was well enough established that she would be able to pick up the slack once her position as a Diamond had been solidified and The Ember Colosseum was running more on its own.  After six months since first speaking to White and Blue Diamond, Jaune found herself once again in the Diamond’s booth.

            “Well, Yellow, I must say, you really did deliver,” Blue Diamond smiled as she weaved her dark fingers together.  “And you did it with only the necessary expenditures.  The money you borrowed from me was well invested and returned with considerable interest.”

            “Thank you,” Jaune smiled.

            “Don’t think this means I like you,” White stated as she walked over with a small, black, jewelry box.  “You are stubborn, intelligent, and a pain in my ass.”

            The blonde smirked.  “I’m sure your ass is only complaining because your money clip has become too big.  You should stop sitting on it; it’s bad for your back.”

            “This is exactly why,” White grumbled.

            “Oh, stop complaining White, you’re just a little sour that this young mind made something more out of your idea,” Blue chucked.  “You should be thanking her.”

            “I am,” White frowned as she opened up the velvet box.

            Worn hands pulled out a gold chain that had a single yellow diamond pendant.  It was cut like a rhombus, easily one and a half karats.  She unclasped the chain and placed it around Jaune’s neck, clasping it at the back of her neck.

            “Welcome, Yellow Diamond, you have earned your title, I look forward to our operation expanding with your added skills,” White said a little stiffly.  “You can now start recruiting fighters for your name, good luck.”

            “Thank you,” Yellow Diamond lightly bowed to the two.  “I look forward to officially working with you.”

            That night Jaune returned to her shared apartment.  She changed out of her yellow suit jacket and unbuttoned a couple of the buttons on her dress shirt.  After grabbing a cold beer from the fridge, she sat down on the couch and quietly celebrated her success.  Long fingers picked up the pendant and a wide smile crossed her lips.  Her vision was complete, now all she needed to do was to keep expanding it.

            As she was finishing her beer, the door opened and Ruby and Sapphire stepped in holding hands and leaning close to each other, giggling at a shared, secret joke.  Jaune’s roommate was the first to notice her.

            “Jaune!” Ruby exclaimed.  “You’re home!  I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages!”

            “Hello, Ruby, Sapphire,” she greeted.  “How are the both of you?”

            “We’re doing great!  Last semester of college for the both of us started last week.  I’m sooo ready to be done with homework.”

            “I never was a fan of homework,” Jaune agreed, “It always got in the way of my own work.”

            “How is your company?” Sapphire inquired.

            “It’s doing well, we’ve had a little bit of a slow spot, but I’ll be making sure that business picks up and that everything is taken care of.  I might be hiring, so if you know any good minds with computers, send them my way.”

            “Will do, sir!” Ruby mock saluted.  “Anyway!  Sapphy and I were going to watch a new special on the BBC, it’s airing soon, care to join us?”

            Jaune laughed.  “Why not?  You can never get enough BBC, can you?”

            “Eh I don’t know what it is,” Ruby shrugged.

            “Ruby likes the British accents,” Sapphire stated.

            “Sapphy!  Don’t say things like that!” the curly haired woman blushed.

            “It’s true,” the other stated.

            Ruby sighed in defeat.  “Fine, but you like them to a certain extent as well, don’t you deny that.”

            “I like their witty humor, it’s not too far off from yours,” Sapphire smiled softly before pressing a kiss to Ruby’s now burning cheek.

            “I’ll move over and take this half of the couch,” Jaune spoke up, “You two can have the other half.”

            They both smiled and sat down, cuddling into each other.  As the Victorian era drama enfolded on the screen, Sapphire turned to Jaune.

            “That’s a very nice, necklace.”

            “Thank you,” Yellow Diamond smirked.

 

            It only took a few weeks to figure out the balance of being both Yellow Diamond and Jaune Simmons.  She patted herself on the back for how well she was doing in managing both of her ventures.  The majority of her focus was rightfully on her company, but a good chunk of her time was also spent maintaining and improving The Ember Colosseum.  By the time she was twenty-eight Information Link had already grown into a larger building with plans for another well on the way.  With over five hundred employees and several thousand customers, business was booming.

            “Ms. Simmons, there is someone in the lobby who is requesting to visit you personally,” her intercom rang.

            The blonde frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Tell them you can schedule a meeting for them with me if they _really_ want to speak to me.  I am in the middle of work right now.”

            “I did, but they insisted, they said they know you personally,” the voice continued.

            Jaune stared at the intercom.  Ruby and Sapphire wouldn’t come to her work, White and Blue wouldn’t contact her through this either, and any of her other acquaintances wouldn't come here, who could it be?

            “What is their name?”

            “Thomas Simmons.”

            The blonde nearly dropped her pen.  “What?!”

            “Thomas Simmons, ma’am, he said he won’t leave until he gets to speak with you.”

            Jaune rubbed her temples and sighed heavily.  “I’ll be down in five,” she said after a few moments.  “Thank you Ms. Pearl.”

            “You’re welcome.”

            After fixing her hair and suit, Jaune took the stairs down to the lobby where Ms. Pearl was keeping a sideways glance on the visitor standing by one of the walls displaying the company logo.  She stopped a couple of feet away from the tall broad man.  His hair was silver, balding slightly, with skin much more wrinkled than she remembered.  Thomas Simmons turned around, his light hazel eyes looking straight into hers.

            “Jaune!” He bellowed, spreading his arms out wide.

            The CEO made no movements towards him.

            Thomas laughed, the rough sound rolling from his gut.  “As I expected.”  He looked around the clean building.  “You’ve sure made something of yourself.  Your endeavor has turned out quite well.”

            “Thank you,” Jaune stated.  “This was the project you scoffed at me for pursuing instead of the path you had intended for me.”

            “Oh I’m not referring to this,” his eyes glinted.

            Jaune stiffened.

            “Though I’m surprised you would step into that arena, but by the looks of it, you’ve done a fantastic job.  I enjoyed myself much more than I did the last time I visited this area,” he continued.

            “Why are you here?”

            “Now, now, is that a way to speak to your own father?”

            “Why contact me now after all these years?”

            He turned to face her fully.  “The holidays are coming up; I expect that you’ll join us this year.  There is a spot for you now.”

            Jaune gritted her teeth, forcing back the many things she wanted to say.  “Is that all?  I don’t have much time to just stand around and engage in pointless chatter.”

            Thomas laughed again.  “No, that was it.  I only had a few minutes myself, I look forward to seeing you in a couple of months.  We can talk real business this time.”

            With that, he turned and strode out of the building.  Jaune stood there frozen for a full minute trying to keep herself from screaming out or smashing something.  She needed to keep her cool.

            “Might I suggest a quick walk around the upper floor while I detail your schedule for the next week?” Ms. Pearl offered.

            The CEO knew what Ms. Pearl was doing.  Jaune always was on top of her schedule, and rarely missed any meetings, or needed reminders.  She accepted and they walked around her office several times as Ms. Pearl read off her schedule while Jaune tried to calm down her shaken nerves.  At the end of the ten minutes, she was able to get back to her work.

            “Thank you Ms. Pearl,” Jaune said tiredly.

            “Of course, Ms. Simmons,” the thin blonde woman bowed lightly before returning to the lobby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you liked it!


	29. A Look into the Past Part Two: Building a Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to read the notes at the bottom, I'm asking for your input on which story you would like to see from me next!
> 
> Also, the outfits Ruby and Sapphire wear are inspired by this awesome drawing done by the talented Jen-iii shown in this link http://askthefamilyoflove.tumblr.com/image/126405557132

^^^^^^

Jaune reflects on her family.

^^^^^^

 

            The CEO of Information Link walked into her shared apartment and flopped on the couch.  Her nerves were still slightly shaken from the encounter with her father, Thomas Simmons, earlier that day.  Sizzling peppers, onions, garlic, and steak reached her nose.  Ruby talked to herself as she cooked, hands making animated movements to match the conversation.  Jaune stared off into the distance.  All the work she had done for the past ten years did nothing, with one short visit Jaune was reduced to her eighteen-year-old self, shocked and heartbroken, as she was told that there was no place for a nobody in their family.  Now that she had made herself into something, he had to come and let her know that she was now welcomed back.  Welcomed back into that toxic environment of one-upping and throwing one’s weight around to claim authority.  She had become successful without any of their help and they didn’t want to look like a bunch off fools for keeping her cut off.  They wanted her because she was now powerful and successful, not because she was their “family” or because they “loved” her.  No, they just wanted her connections, the special family discounts, the social perk of being related to her.  One successful company and one growing venture couldn’t earn their genuine love, nothing could.  Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she forced them back, blinking rapidly and clenching her jaw.

            “Hey,” a voice called out to her.

            Jaune turned to see Ruby staring at her with concern in her large dark brown eyes.

            “Are you alright?  You seem upset,” Ruby carefully stated.

            The blonde weakly scoffed.  “I’m fantastic.”

            The boxer turned off the stove and walked over, she punched Jaune’s shoulder.  “Hey, don’t get all sarcastic on me!  I’m being serious.”

            “I _should_ feel fantastic considering what I was told today,” Jaune began.

            “But you don’t.  What was said?”

            “My father so graciously informed me that I am now welcome and expected to be home for the holidays.  He said that there is a seat for me now.”

            Ruby’s eyebrows furrowed.  “What?!  After nearly a decade he finally speaks to you and this is what he says?  ‘Don’t mind that we haven’t talked in forever, but since you’re rich and famous now I want to be seen with you.  You must come over and eat tea and crumpets with us so we can brag to all of our stately neighbors and colleagues about how wonderful it is to have such a successful daughter.’” She mocked with a deep voice.

            Jaune cracked a smile.  Ruby continued,

            “‘Can I add you to my collection of rich family members?  We only accept the best and the brightest here in the Simmons family.  If you’re not a business owner and have at least several billion to your name, don’t even bother applying.’”  The boxer turned to face her.  “Really?  He seriously did that?”

            The CEO nodded.

            _And it wasn’t even because of my company, it was because of my work as Yellow Diamond._

            “That’s just bull shit!” Ruby shouted as she paced around.  “Let’s kick out our daughter for having a mind of her own and for not being an obedient puppet.  But now that she’s all important, we want to make sure to get a piece of that pie.  You know what?” she rounded back.  “You don’t have to go, pick your own damn family full of people who legitimately care about you and not about your social status, pocketbook, or choice of significant others.  Gather them all together and have the best damn feast ever because everyone will actually want to be there and they’ll all care about each other!  It’ll be one big love fest!”  the curly haired woman tapped her chin after her last sentence.  “Hmmm, maybe not love fest, but you get what I’m trying to say, right?”

            Jaune smiled and laughed a little.  “Yes, I do.”  She sat back, looking up at the ceiling, the gears in her head spinning.  “You know what?  I think you’re onto something there.  I’ll have my own holiday celebration and I’ll spend it with the people who really matter to me.  My real family.”

            “That’s the spirit,” Ruby gave a thumbs up.  “Let’s get some fancy parchment and invite these people over!”

            The blonde shook her head and chuckled.  “No need, the family I want to be in is right here,” she gestured to their apartment.

            Ruby stared at her for a solid moment before it clicked.  Tears welled up in her eyes.  “Really?  I’m so honored…”

            “Of course you are, and Sapphire as well.  I can’t really have one without the other, you two belong together,” Jaune grinned.  “Besides, anyone who keeps choosing to live with me after all these years definitely qualifies.”  She quickly wrapped Ruby in a headlock and ruffled her hair.

            The boxer easily escaped and playfully punched her a few times.  Jaune fought back, trying to use her height and reach advantage to retaliate.  The door opened just as Ruby had thrown Jaune over her shoulder onto the floor.  Sapphire stood there, staring at the two from her hidden eyes.

            “Good news I take it?” she asked flatly.

            “The best news!” Ruby exclaimed as she ran over and scooped Sapphire up, kissing her on the lips briefly.  “Jaune says that we’re her family!”

            “Oh?” a hidden eyebrow was raised.

            Jaune stood up and dusted herself off.  “Only if you accept.  I decided that my ‘real’ family is full of shit.”

            “I accept, this offer,” Sapphire smirked.

            “Yes!” Ruby punched the air.  “We’ll be like your younger sisters then!  Or well maybe just one of us can be your sister and the other can be her passionate lover,” she finished as she wiggled her eyebrows at Sapphire.

            The tall blonde laughed once again.  “I don’t care about the labels, you two are my family now,” she said as she looped her long arms around them.  “You are the ones I want to have at my table on the holidays.  Hell any day!”

            “Can we include Ms. Pearl as well?” Ruby begged.

            “Sure, why not?” Jaune agreed.

            “Sweet!  She can be like your snooty cousin!”

            “She’s not snooty, she’s just a very good gatekeeper,” the CEO rolled her eyes.

            “Whatever you say…”

            “Be nice, Ruby,” Sapphire coolly admonished.

            “Fiiiinnneee.”

            The trio then celebrated their makeshift family by feasting on the delicious fajitas that Ruby made.  With all three of them now out of college and well into their next ventures, life was steadily changing.

 

            “Why am I here again?” the businesswoman pinched the bridge or her nose as Ruby scrutinized yet another glass full of ring designs.

            “For a professional opinion.  You have a better grasp on this whole arena, plus maybe some good haggling skills?  Though for Sapphire I’d pay anything.”

            “Don’t say that out loud, the salesman is right over there,” Jaune groaned.

            “See?  This is why I need you!”

            “What brought this about anyway?  You two are already living together.”

            “Yes, but, our conversation on choosing your own family a few weeks back started me thinking.  You know that you both are my family as well, but with Sapphire I want to be more.  I want to show that I’m committed to her and that I’m not going anywhere.  I’m going to stay and be there for her through thick and thin.  I want her to become my family legally.  I want to marry her.”

            Jaune’s eyes widened in surprise.  “I-I…the thought never really occurred to me.  For you two to get married,”

            “It hasn’t just come up; we’ve talked about it a little before.  Getting married, and possibly adopting a couple children.  Sapphire’s always just been a little hesitant.  Her family has been ok with her dating and living with me, but she thinks that they are just waiting for her to move past this ‘phase’ and go marry some man.”  Ruby moved to the next section, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.  “Even if they get upset for a little while over the marriage, I’m sure they won’t pull a stunt like either of our families did.  But still, I don’t want her to have to choose between her family and me.  That’s not fair.”  The boxer sighed.

            “I think it’s a good idea.”

            “What is?”

            “Marrying her,” Jaune smiled.  “You love her, you want to be with her for as long as possible, and she feels the same, why not cement that with legally binding paperwork?”

            Ruby smacked her face with her broad hand.  “Jaune…you really need to work on your love speak.”

            Jaune huffed.  “What I’m trying to say is that if it’s something that the both of you want and it means something, then you should do it.  What’s the worst that could happen?”

            “She could say no,” Ruby deadpanned.

            “Oh…”

            “Or her family could threaten to cut her off and then they’d send an assassin after me to remove my foul effect on her, or she could say no and then send an assassin after me…”

            “Ok, ok,” Jaune held up her hands.  “But what is the best that could happen?”

            The stocky woman pondered for a moment.  “She could say yes, her family would celebrate with us, and then one day we’d live in a nice house with our adorable daughter.”

            “So, my question for you now is the risk worth it?”

            “Yes!”  Ruby grinned.  “Terrifying, yes, but worth it.  I’d do anything for her, I don’t want to be with anyone else.  I want to make her the happiest Sapphy she can be!  I want to love her to the end, forever, and even after that.”

            The tall blonde smiled.  “Alright, now let’s go, I know of a much better place, and I know the owner so I can probably work out a good deal for you.”

            “See?!  This is why I brought you along!” Ruby exclaimed as they walked out of the jewelry store.

            Jaune simply laughed.

 

            Proposing was the easy part, well for Jaune that is.  She helped Ruby set up some flowers and candles in a nearby park and made sure no one disturbed it until Ruby and Sapphire made it to the spot.  The best part had to have been the gasp of surprise that jumped out of Sapphire’s lips as Ruby knelt down on one knee and proposed to her.  The tall blonde smiled from a distance.  She took a few pictures, but let the two to have their space.  A single tear ran down her face, it was truly a beautiful sight.  Soft candle light played off the green trees and grass while the sky slowly darkened in the background.  The candles were arranged in a heart, with red and blue rose pedals sprinkled around.  Sapphire loved the ring as well.  It was a simple white gold band with a princess cut, half karat, ruby in the middle.  They were both ecstatic, Ruby picked Sapphire up and twirled her around as tears streamed down her cheeks.  Their laugher brightened the whole area.  Jaune and a few other friends that had hidden away in the bushes came out to wish them the best and congratulate them.  The newly engaged couple shared a kiss, smiles stretching across their faces.  When they arrived back at their shared apartment later that night, Ruby shared all of their ideas about what to do for the wedding party, what to wear, and who to invite with Jaune.  The tall blonde nodded and listened to all of their ideas.  It would be a special day regardless of what was served or what music was played, Jaune knew that.  Their excitement could not be contained.

            Unfortunately, Sapphire’s family didn’t share in the excitement.  When the two went over to Sapphire’s family home to personally announce the engagement the next day, the atmosphere quickly changed from the normal welcoming space to harsh orders for Ruby to leave and demands for Sapphire to break off the engagement.  Her family stated that they had been ok with her trying this out, but it was time she grew up, became serious about life, and found a man to marry and build a family with.  Sapphire tried arguing back that Ruby was just as supportive, loving, capable, and strong as any man.  She explained their plans for buying a house and adopting a couple of children in the near future.   However, they wouldn’t have any of it.  They told her Ruby was no longer welcome on their property.  Sapphire stated calmly, despite the rage shaking her small frame, that if Ruby was no longer welcome, then neither was she.  She was going to marry Ruby and that it was her family’s choice to be a part of it or not.  Before leaving Sapphire reemphasized how much she loved Ruby and that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with no one but her.

            At the apartment Ruby begged Sapphire to reconsider her actions towards her family, the curly haired woman didn’t want to force her fiancé to choose between her family and her.  Sapphire stopped Ruby and stated once again that it was their choice to not be accepting of her decision to be with Ruby.  Many tears were shed as they worked through the turmoil of thoughts and emotions that were swarming around them.

            Early the next day, Sapphire asked Jaune to accompany her in picking out a ring for Ruby.  She didn’t really ask much for Jaune’s input, and it only took her a few minutes to get a trillion cut, half karat, blue, sapphire put into a gold band.  It would take a few days for the ring to be ready, but she was excited, she knew Ruby would love it.  Jaune promised not to tell Ruby, so Sapphire could surprise her.

            Surprised was an understatement when Sapphire presented the ring to Ruby a week later.  Tears streamed down her face as she blubbered about how pretty the ring was and how beautiful Sapphire was and how much she loved her.  Jaune had smiled widely as she watched from the end of the hallway.  Using her connections to help out her family felt great.  The two approached Jaune later about possible places to have a small party for their wedding.  They only wanted a civil marriage, since neither of them were deeply religious.  It would be just a few witnesses at the courthouse with a fun party for everyone to be at afterwards.  Jaune offered to help out with a number of the expenses and get them the best deals possible.  They accepted the offer on the help, but expressed that they wanted to handle most of the expenses.  For the next month Jaune was busy helping her two dear friends settle all of the arrangements, send out invitations, and help with their wedding day attire.

            It was a beautiful day.  Jaune stood on Ruby’s side as her witness along with a couple of others, while close friends of Sapphire’s acted as her witnesses.  Sapphire stood tall in a tailored, three-piece, dark blue suit and matching heels.  Ruby stunned everyone as she walked up in an above the knee, crimson red, sleeveless dress with a tasteful number of ruffles.  They read their vows to each other, exchanged rings, and then the judge pronounced them Ruby Erutav and Sapphire Erutav; wife and wife.  Jaune wiped the tears away from her eyes as Ruby dipped Sapphire before kissing her soundly on the lips.

            The party was small and fun.  Simple decorations at a good venue with delicious refreshments.  Toasts were made, the first dance was had, and some cake was smeared on the suit and dress.  The newlyweds called their friends out on the dance floor to have fun.  Jaune was even pulled onto the dance floor for a couple of dances.  Only one damper could be barely felt during the festivities.  Both of Sapphire’s and Ruby’s immediate families had been invited, yet neither of them showed.  However, the two didn’t let it take away from their moment to celebrate their life together.  Before long Ruby and Sapphire drove off in Sapphire’s car for their honeymoon.  The businesswoman waved after them and smiled.  This would give her plenty of time to take care of the expenses for the venue and food without them stopping her.

 

            The days sped by.  Once Ruby and Sapphire returned from their honeymoon, they made plans to move into their own apartment and to begin saving for a house to buy.  It worked well for Jaune, she had been planning to move into her own place soon as well.  Within a couple of months, the blonde walked into her new house, outfitted exactly how she wanted.  Business had treated her well in both of her ventures.  Information Link was now in a large corporate building with thousands of employees and hundreds of thousands of customers.  The Ember Colosseum grew as well, Yellow Diamond had finally assembled her own team of fighters and had begun learning how to fight as well.  She wanted to be versed in the art so she could make better decisions in regards to whom she had wear her symbol.

            Jaune’s phone buzzed lightly in her pocket as she stood in the Diamond booth with White, Blue, and the newly named Red Diamond.  As tradition, White presented Red with a present.  A black, genuine, leather belt with a red diamond securely set into the white gold coated, stainless steel belt buckle.  Red’s contribution was in the medical industry.  She provided professional athletic trainers, medical supplies, and a couple of standby doctors and surgeons.  It was a good thing too, the fights, especially those in the Iron Pitt, had been getting rougher and they wanted to avoid the trouble of having another fighter die in the ring.  Red’s aesthetic contribution had been the setup of the bright and colorful colosseum lights and the dramatic ring lighting.  As the brief ceremony came to a close, Yellow Diamond excused herself as she checked her phone.  Her eyes nearly bulged out of her sockets.  She reread the text several times before practically running to her car.  Firm knuckles rapped on the apartment door that Sapphire and Ruby had been living in for the past two years.

            “Jaune!” Ruby shouted as she opened the door, her brown eyes bright with excitement.

            “Shhh, not so loud,” Sapphire gently scolded.

            “Oh, sorry,” Ruby replied in a quieter voice.  “Come in,” Ruby directed towards Jaune.

            The tall woman stepped into the house, sharp eyes noticing a few new boxes laying around, and some packaging for pieces of furniture.

            “I came as soon as I read your message.  May I meet the new family member?”

            Sapphire glided down the short hallway carrying a small bundle in her arms.  She pushed the purple blanket back to press a light kiss onto a small dark forehead surrounded by black tight curls.

            “She’s adorable!” Ruby quietly squealed, her eyes practically sparkling.

            Jaune stepped forward and bent down to get a closer look at the baby.  A full head of black curls already surrounded the small chubby face.  Eyes were shut tight as the infant was sleeping peacefully in Sapphire’s arms.

            “She is very adorable,” Jaune smiled, “What is her name?”

            “Garnet,” Sapphire smiled.

            “How old is she?”

            “Two months.”

            “Wow,” the tallest stood up.  “I didn’t know you two had already competed the papers to become adoptive parents.”

            “We did over a year ago, finished all of the background checks, financial checks, everything.  There were other times we got a call, but weren’t chosen.  Garnet is special,” Sapphire supplied.

            “We got the call a week ago, Garnet was surrendered at a hospital a couple hours away and we were the first ones they called,” Ruby chimed in.  “It took a lot of paperwork and money to settle everything, but she’s our daughter now.  Garnet Erutav.”

            “Wow…Do you know when her birthday is?” Jaune asked.

            “We do actually, she was surrendered with her birth certificate.  However, both of the birth parent’s names were blacked out along with Garnet’s original last name,” the long haired blonde stated before she placed a kiss to one of Garnet’s cheeks.

            “She’s sooo cute!  I just love her to death!” Ruby quietly exclaimed as she gently hugged both Sapphire and baby Garnet.  “I’m going to teach her everything I know, I’m going to protect her from any bullies, I’m going to love her forever!”  She kissed Garnet’s other cheek.

            Jaune smiled at the sight of the small family.  She was an aunt now, and she was both excited and nervous about it.

            “Would you like to hold her, Jaune?” Sapphire asked.

            “I-uhh…” Jaune began to panic slightly, “I’ve never held a baby before.”

            “That’s alright, I’ll show you how.  You’ll need to know how, after all, she’s part of your family now too.”

            After some careful instruction, Garnet was placed into Jaune’s slightly shaking hands.

            “Make sure to hold her close, it helps her feel safe.”

            Jaune breathed out finally after she adjusted to the warm bundle in her arms.

            “Hello Garnet, I’m Jaune, your aunt,” she spoke to the baby.

            Garnet squirmed lightly and began to wake up.

            “Ooh!  You’ll get to see her eyes!” Ruby exclaimed.

            “Shhh…” Sapphire reprimanded.

            “Sorry…” the curly haired woman whispered.

            Small eyes slowly opened partially only for them to quickly shut as Garnet’s face became scrunched up in discomfort.  Tiny hands reached up in an attempt to cover her eyes as a small cry was made.

            “What’s going on?” Jaune said, panicking once again.  “Why is she crying?”

            “Oh, she does that all the time, we don’t know why yet,” Ruby said as she carefully took Garnet from Jaune.  “The doctor said she is just a fussy baby and that she’ll grow out of it soon.”

            Sapphire seriously hummed.  “I don’t completely agree with that, she sleeps very well and doesn’t fuss as much in the evenings.  I’ve been reading a number of infant care books, but so far none of them have mentioned causes or anything similar to her pattern of behavior.”

            “We’ll figure it out though,” Ruby grinned.

            “I’m sure you will.  Congratulations to both of you,” Jaune smiled.  “I’m very happy for you both, it looks like Garnet will be a great addition to your family.”

            “Yes she will,” Sapphire and Ruby agreed together.

 

            Figuring out Garnet’s fussy behavior had been a stroke of genius and luck on Ruby’s account.  She had been playing with Garnet in the living room while Sapphire prepared lunch on a bright Saturday afternoon when she had taken Jaune’s sunglasses and placed them on Garnet just for fun.  Immediately Garnet’s face relaxed and she looked around quietly, small hands reaching up to hold the sunglasses in place.  Ruby laughed and took them off, causing Garnet to instantly start fussing and pushing the backs of her hands against her eyes.

            “Oh sorry, didn’t know you liked ‘em,” Ruby apologized setting them back on.

            Like magic the infant’s cries died and she looked around at everything.  Garnet attempted to crawl towards Ruby but flopped down on her belly, the sunglasses falling down as well.  Once again her face was contorted in discomfort until her mother fixed the glasses.  Ruby’s eyes narrowed in concentration.  She removed the glasses, causing Garnet to cry once again, then put them back on, the cries instantly died.  Sapphire glanced at them from the kitchen.

            “Ruby…”

            Sapphire’s wife didn’t say anything, she just repeated the process.

            “Ruby…” Sapphire said a little firmer.

            The sunglasses were removed and then quickly put back on.

            “You should probably stop messing with Garnet, Sapphire looks like she’s going to murder you,” Jaune offhandedly mentioned as she observed from the table she was setting up.

            Ruby’s face lightened up.  “I’ve figured it out!” she shouted as she scooped up Garnet and lifted her up into the air.

            A small giggle came from the baby.  The curly haired woman looked over at her wife.  “It’s too bright for her!  Her eyes are sensitive to light!”

            Sapphire’s displeased face melted into one of curiosity.  “Really?”

            “Yeah, if you take off the sunglasses she gets all fussy, but with them on, she’s just fine, just like at night time.”

            “Because at night it’s darker and the light doesn’t bother her eyes!” Sapphire caught on.  “I bet it has something to do with her heterochromia, I’m going to look it up right now!” she sprinted towards the family computer and began powering it on.

            Jaune casually took over preparing the rest of the lunch as the couple surfed the web for the diagnosis.  Garnet smiled at Jaune from over Ruby’s shoulder.  Jaune smiled back.  She would need to buy some sunglasses to replace those, but she was 100% ok with that.

            A trip to the doctor a couple days later confirmed what Ruby had discovered.  With a prescription written, the two bought some goggles and a few pairs of stylish sunglasses for Garnet to wear.

            “When we get into a house, we can install all of those light dimmers so Garnet won’t have to wear her sunglasses inside all the time,” Ruby smiled as the baby tugged on her finger and tried to gnaw on it.

            “Sounds like a great idea,” Sapphire agreed.

            The two shared a quick kiss before they turned and kissed Garnet on the cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was more focused on Ruby and Sapphire and now baby Garnet! Hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> So below I will list the works I am opening up for voting. You can either pick just one, or do a ranking.
> 
> Bad Pearl/Officer Garnet mashup:  
> Rating: M (sometimes E) sensuality, graphic depictions of violence, language  
> Length: Shorter than Champion, nothing written yet.  
> Info: See "Fuse with Me" for an introduction to the characters I'm going to be working with. Hilarity and drama to ensue when we put those two together. Nothing written, but lots of ideas.
> 
> Points of Pain Series:  
> Rating: Explicit, ALL archive warnings apply  
> Number in Series: Four parts. All but one are strictly from Pearl's POV  
> Length: Each part might be as long as Champion, at least part's one and two. Currently have 15 chapters written for part one and five for part two.  
> Info: See "Lay your Trust to Rest" for an intro to the Pearl and Garnet in this. A very dramatic and truamatic series, with a twisted dark turn applied to the basic relations in Champion. If I were to post this at all, the first chapter will be a disclaimer, and then I would test you all out on the first couple of chapters to see how people are doing. Lots a world building and some really sweet moments between Pearl and Garnet later on. Consent, who owns the blame, PTSD, and conditioning will be themes heavily explored in this series. Be prepared for SAD and horrible stuff in parts one and two. Eventual happy ending. Would cover about thirty years of time.
> 
> Post Champion Story:  
> Rating: M (some E) sensuality, language  
> Info: Would pick up after the end of Champion and focus on Pearl and Garnet's growing relationship. Rest of high school, College, and adult life time period covered. Nothing written, and wouldn't have any chapters for a few months as I take a break.  
> Length: Not sure yet...No longer than Champion
> 
> Crystal Gem Headcannons and Stories:  
> Rating: varies per story  
> Info: Mostly stuff like "A Test of Devotion" and "Throwing Mud". My headcannons on how things happened for short stories that would be cool if they happened, or other random stuff.  
> Length: Varies, nothing written, but a few ideas floating around.
> 
> So let me know in the comments below or on tumblr (http://thetruthampere.tumblr.com/)! I would love to hear your feedback, otherwise I'll just pick one. Ultimately which one I choose to work on is my choice, but I would like to take your opinion heavily into consideration. (Also I won't count multiple votes by the same person.)


	30. A Look into the Past Part Three: Building a Home

^^^^^^

Ruby and Sapphire purchase their home.

^^^^^^

 

            It took a year and a half before Sapphire and Ruby were able to purchase a house.  They were ecstatic to finally have a home for their small family.  Moving in was a little more difficult, especially since Garnet had learned how to run not too long ago and was eager to take off at the slightest thing that interested her curious mind.  A new neighborhood with tons of unexplored potential had set the young child off running the first chance she got.  Thankfully Sapphire was faster than her and was able to scoop her up before she darted out into the currently empty street.  Garnet giggled and patted her mother’s cheeks with her small hands, completely unaware of the danger she could have been in.  Sapphire kindly reprimanded her for running off and told her to stay out of the street and nearby them.  The long-haired blonde walked back towards the moving van where a small crew of professional movers and Ruby carried their simple collection of belongings into the new house.  Since Jaune was tied up at work, she had hired a crew to help out her family instead; promising that she would drop by whenever she got the chance.  Sapphire grabbed a couple of small items with her open arm and carried them towards the house.  Garnet took the opportunity to grab a handful of Sapphire’s hair and pull on it.  Luckily for the new mother, her wife was walking out the door and noticed the trouble she was in.

            “Garnet!  What are you doing with Mommy’s hair?!” Ruby gently exclaimed.  “Come here, let go of the hair, I know it’s very pretty,” she said as she pried the golden strands from the toddler’s firm grip and relieved Sapphire from carrying her.

            “Thank you,” Sapphire said, giving Ruby a quick kiss on the lips and walking into the house before Garnet could grab her hair again.

            Ruby turned and faced Garnet.  “Hey now.  You’re being quite the troublemaker today, what’s gotten into you?”

            The small child grinned.

            “You’re probably just as excited as we are, this will be a great area for our family, it’s got some good schools nearby and fairly good neighborhoods, kinda…”

            “Mummy!” Garnet exclaimed as she reached towards her other mother.

            The curly haired woman laughed.  “You sure got that one down.”

            Tiny dark hands then grabbed two fistfuls of Ruby’s curly hair.  Sapphire came out of the house with her long hair tied securely into a bun to see her love struggling with their small child.  Ruby looked over at her, tears in the corners of her eyes as Garnet continued to yank on her hair.

            “Help…”

            Sapphire laughed and was able to coax Garnet into letting go of the hair.

            “Mum!” the child smiled as she hugged Sapphire around her neck.

            “I can’t stay mad at her,” Ruby sighed as she rubbed her sore head.  “Thanks for rescuing me, Sapphy.”

            Sapphire hummed in response.

            “Let me know if you need to swap, I’m going to get back to unloading,” the curly haired woman said as she kissed Sapphire on the cheek and strode off.

            The long-haired woman stood off to the side and watched for a moment.  She glanced down at Garnet who was grinning up at her, the child’s sunglasses covering the mischief sparkling in her eyes.

            “We love you,” Sapphire stated as she kissed Garnet on the forehead.

 

            Jaune knocked on the door.

            “Come in!”  A voice shouted from the other side.

            The businesswoman opened the door.  Boxes were here and there, electrical supplies were strewn about, but other than that, the house looked well set up.  It had been almost a week since Ruby and Sapphire had moved and this was the first time she had been able to drop by.

            “Welcome, Jaune!” Ruby greeted from where she was working on one of the outlets.

            “Evening,” Jaune smiled.  “How was the move?”

            “Great!  It only took a half of a day to get everything in, those guys were a big help.  Sapphy and I have just been moving, putting stuff in their place, and keeping track of Garnet; she’s been a handful this past week.”

            “I’m glad everything went well. What are you working on?”

            “Dimmers, so Garnet won’t have to wear her sunglasses all the time.  Oh and Sapphire put child proof locks on everything, so if you need to use the bathroom, give yourself a little more time, some of them are pretty tricky.”

            “Thanks for the warning.  Though I probably won’t be here super long.”

            A box tipped over and Garnet stumbled onto the carpet.  She stood up and ran at Jaune, her small head colliding with the woman’s knee as the toddler hugged her leg.  Jaune winced a little.

            “Good evening, Garnet, how are you?”

            “Up!” the toddler called as she reached up towards the familiar woman.

            The businesswoman chuckled as she bent down to pick Garnet up.  She easily rested her on her hip, no longer uncomfortable with holding the tiny human.  Small hands reached for her hair, but were drawn back as they didn’t find anything long enough to grab.

            “Where is Sapphire?” Jaune inquired as she set down her briefcase and took off her heels.

            “She’s in Garnet’s room,” Ruby said as she moved to the next light fixture.

            Jaune walked back into the hallway.  Two bedrooms on one side, a bathroom and a small office on the other with the master bedroom and bathroom at the back.  She knocked on the door as she walked in.  Sapphire was organizing the storage of the child’s toys.

            “Good evening, Jaune, it’s good to see you,” Sapphire greeted with her usual soothing voice.

            “Same here.  You two have done a great job with the house so far.  My schedule is a little less busy, so let me know if you need any help.”

            “Thank you for the offer, but I think we’ve got it from here.  How’s your business?”

            “Crazy busy, but that’s good, we’re expanding the information platform capability so it’s been both stressful and successful.”

            “I’m sure it’ll go well,” Sapphire smiled.

            “Thanks.  I heard Garnet’s been a bit of a handful lately,” she said as she tapped the child’s round nose.

            “She has, but it will pass as she becomes used to the new area.”

            “I’m happy for all of you, this is a beautiful house.”

            “Thank you, it’s a beautiful home,” Sapphire agreed.

 

            Jaune Simmons stood in her office.  Teeth gritted and hands clenched into fists as she watched the numbers continue to plummet on the screen as the news anchor continued to drone on about the current stock crash.  Housing investing had been over speculated, insurance companies couldn’t back up claims, interest rates were going crazy, everything was falling apart.  Light hazel eyes glanced over to her computer screen as she watched the stock value for her company slowly get pulled down along with everyone else.  She pinched the bridge of her nose.  Ms. Pearl stood off to her side, silently watching this disaster unfold.  The decent had to stop eventually.  Jaune sighed.

            “Make an announcement for a company-wide meeting at 4:00pm today.  This needs to be addressed, and panic needs to be contained.”

            “Yes, ma’am,” Ms. Pearl nodded before quickly leaving the office.

            Now alone Jaune wondered several things.  One: how was the accounting firm that Ruby was working for doing?  Two: how much was she going to get pulled down with this?  Three: how was Blue doing?  She would find out soon.  Another sigh came out of her stiff form.  A lot of people were going to be impacted by this.

            At 4:00pm Jaune stepped up to the microphone and looked out at all of her employees talking to each other, worried faces everywhere.  She took a deep breath and steeled her spine.

            “Thank you all for coming to this meeting.  I appreciate your time and dedication in helping to make this company as strong and successful as it is today.  This is not something I could have done on my own.  As I am sure you all are aware of the market crash that is happening right now.  I am here to clear any doubts and hopefully ease your concerns.  Right now I know a lot of people will be losing jobs at other companies strongly affected by this.  However!  That is not the case for Information Link!  Yes, our stock value has dropped, but hardly anything compared to the others.  I am not going to start rounds of unnecessary downsizing.  We are an established successful company with a growing product and customer basis.  If you continue to work hard and bring value to the company than there is no need to worry about the security of your job.  It has been like that since each of you were hired and it is not changing.  We have incredible, talented, and dedicated individuals working here at Information Link.  I want to keep it that way.”  Jaune paced to the other side.  “If you do have concerns, feel free to schedule a one-on-one with your respective managers and express them.  I want to communicate with all of you first.  There will be no surprises in how I manage this company and its resources.  Thank you again for taking the time out of your busy schedules.  Please return back to your previous tasks.  I expect to see all of you back again tomorrow morning.  Thank you.”

            After answering a few questions from the gathering of employees, Jaune headed back up to her office to examine the damage.  The drop had finally slowed.  The CEO’s gut clenched as she looked at her company’s stock.  It had dropped nearly ten dollars.  She fell back into her chair and ran her fingers through her short hair.  This was a mess.

 

            Three days after the crash Jaune forced herself to leave the office and bring dinner to her family.  She hadn’t heard much from them, but she hoped they wouldn’t mind her popping in unannounced.  Strong knuckles rapped on the metal door.  Garnet opened the door and smiled up at her.

            “Jaune’s here!” she called back into the house as she opened it up the rest of the way.

            “Be careful, Garnet, make sure to check the peep hole before opening the door next time,” Sapphire admonished.

            “Sorry Mum.”

            Jaune smiled in spite of her high stress levels.  Garnet was four years old now, smart, tall, and active.  Ruby was on her laptop with her face scrunched up in frustration.  Sapphire was in the kitchen, just pulling out some leftovers to warm up.

            “I brought dinner,” the businesswoman offered as she lifted up the three pizzas she had bought from one of their favorite places.

            Garnet grinned.  “Can we eat it?” she asked her mother.

            Sapphire laughed, it wasn’t as heartfelt as it usually was.  “Of course, fresh pizza is better than leftovers.”  She looked over at Ruby.  “Ruby, do you want to take a break and come eat dinner with us?”

            The curly haired woman glanced up from her laptop and heavily sighed.  She closed it, walked over, and sat down.  Most of the dinner conversation rolled around Garnet and the new things she had learned that day and the new friend she had made.  Next year she would be starting kindergarten and her mothers were both excited and nervous for that.  Garnet also had a playdate scheduled with a girl a couple of streets over named Amethyst.  After dinner, the young child wanted to play with Jaune for a little while before her bed time.  They played a couple of card games while Ruby stared at the computer screen and Sapphire put away the remaining pizza.  Before long the energetic child was tucked into bed by her two mothers.  Jaune sat on one of the couches taking sips from one of the beers she had also brought.  Ruby and Sapphire joined her, each taking one to sip on as well.

            “How are things?” Jaune carefully began.

            Ruby glared at the carpet, Sapphire put a supportive hand on her firm shoulder.

            “It’s been better,” Sapphire replied.  “But nothing that can’t be remedied.”

            “I’ve been laid off,” Ruby spat bitterly.  “They had to cut some fat off to make it through this recession.”

            The tall woman frowned.  She had a suspicion that had been the case, but it was still disappointing to hear.  Ruby was diligent in her work, there should have been no reason to consider her fat to be cut off.

            “That’s a fast decision.  It’s only been a few days.  Who knows it could bounce right up.”

            Ruby scoffed, sitting back in her chair.

            “Has your private tutoring been affected?” Jaune directed to Sapphire.

            “Thankfully not.  No one has cancelled, we’re just a little concerned.  With the housing investment burst, it’s hard to not be worried about our home we purchased only a couple years ago.  For now, we can keep up with the payments even with the reduced income, we’ve always made sure to have a good savings in case of things like this.  Ruby will find a job before too long,” Sapphire gave her wife an encouraging smile.

            The CEO nodded.  “I’ll send you any leads I find, right now I’m not hiring so I can’t offer you that.  But please keep me informed on this, I can always find a way to help you both out.”

            “Thank you.”

            “Of course,” Jaune tried to smile.

            She left not too long after they finished their one drink; it was time to head back to the office and continue working on her plan to keep her company sailing during the recession.  There was only so much time until she knew Blue would be contacting her, the older Diamond had been hit pretty hard as well.  The planned upgrades to The Ember Colosseum would need to be put on hold, they didn’t want to get into a bind if their customer attendance dropped significantly.

 

            Things didn’t get better in the couple of months that followed.  Jaune visited her family often, relaying any leads she had to Ruby and checking in on them.  She had never seen her longtime friend this down before.  On another evening like before she knocked on the door and was welcomed in by Garnet, who had checked through the peep hole first.  Despite the small families attempt to be welcoming for her visit, the atmosphere was gloomy at best.  Ruby had yet to find a job.  Several interviews, but no offers extended.  Sapphire had taken on a few more individuals to give voice lessons and general education tutoring to, but it wasn’t enough.  Their funds were running out.  Jaune offered to give them a small personal loan so that they could make the next couple of payments; hoping by then that Ruby, or maybe Sapphire, would have a full time job and would be able to support the family.  They agreed to the loan eventually, and Jaune promised to have the money to them the next day.

            When the CEO drove up the next day with the cash in hand, her light hazel eyes caught a sign posted outside of the home.  The bold letters of FORECLOSED and FOR SALE shouted at her.  Jaune sprinted up to the door and didn’t even bother knocking before she opened it.  Ruby and Sapphire held each other as tears ran down their faces.  Garnet sat quietly on the couch watching the BBC.

            “What happened?!” Jaune asked.

            “We told them we would have the money today, but they said we were too risky to have a mortgage open with and that they were going to sell it to someone who could actually make the payments,” Ruby stated bitterly.  “They’ve given us thirty days or less depending on when it gets sold to vacate.”

            “But you haven’t missed your payment yet, it’s due today.  I have the money right here,” Jaune said in disbelief as she held out the envelope.

            “We tried to explain, they wouldn’t listen.”

_NO!!!_

            Fire burned behind light hazel eyes.  This wasn’t going to happen, no, not to her family.

            “Keep this, it’s not a loan anymore, I’m giving it to you,” Jaune set the envelope on the table.

            Ruby tried to protest.  The businesswoman just held up her hand and shook her head.

            “Don’t even try to argue with me.  I’m going to get to the bottom of this.  You’re not going to lose this house if there’s something I can do.  I’ll be back later.”

            With that she left them and ran back into her car.  The loan managers had just been waiting for Ruby and Sapphire to struggle with a payment so they could kick them out.  Her brain fumed as the gears quickly turned in her head.  It couldn’t be sold if it was already bought, and it couldn’t be foreclosed if it was fully paid off.  She stopped at a local park and opened up her sleek laptop.  It didn’t take long to find the listing price for their home.  $745,000.  Ridiculously high considering that they were currently in a recession.  Either way, she was going to make some calls.

            Four hours later, Jaune knocked quietly on the door.  It was after 10:00 at night and she didn’t want to wake up Garnet.  Ruby answered and silently beckoned her in.  The three adults sat down at the table.  Jaune clutched the sheet of paper in her hand, hopefully the answer to all of this.

            “I have an offer to the both of you,” Jaune began.  “One where I buy out the house in full and then you would make payments to me.  There would be no interest to pay, since I’m not going to incur that expense.  The payments we can work out to a level that would work for your financial situation, but be enough that you would be able to pay it off in a decent number of years.  I have it all drafted right here, please read it over and ask me any questions.  I can wait a number of days for your response, or if you have another idea, I’m open to that as well.”

            The couple read it over a few times.

            “Why not just skip the house purchase and establish a regular loan with us?” Ruby asked.

            “I thought about that, but then it still left you two to the mercy of your current mortgage managers.  Given how quickly they are to foreclose on you, even when you didn’t miss a payment, I personally don’t trust them to not try and pull something else.”

            “So the property would belong to you, but we would make payments to you like rent until it is paid in full?”

            “Correct.  You both would still manage utilities and internet as you do now.  The main difference is that everything you pay to me will go straight to principal, no more interest to pay off.”

            “Why are you offering this?  Can you afford it?” Sapphire spoke up.

            “I can more than afford it, and I didn’t want to sit back when there was something I could do to help you both keep your home.”

            Ruby and Sapphire exchanged a look.  “We will think about it and let you know soon, thank you Jaune for your very generous offer, we really appreciate it.”

            “Take as much time as you want.  If you don’t want to go this route, then I will try to help out any other way I can.”

            “Thank you,” Ruby smiled, “We’ll call you when we’ve made our decision.  For now, please get some rest, you look tired.”

            Jaune laughed.  That was just like them to be concerned with her well-being.  “I will, don’t worry.”

            They shared a quick group hug before Jaune bade them goodnight.

            Later the next day Ruby and Sapphire called their friend.  After another discussion, the two agreed to the contract on monthly payments of $1,500.  Jaune told them they could set it for lower, but they wanted it there so they could pay it off in just over thirty years.  The next course of action was for Jaune to buy the house.  It took another day for an offer to be made and accepted.  In another day all of the paperwork was finished and the house belonged to Jaune.  It closed at $650,000.  The businesswoman tried to get it lower, but the bank wasn’t budging.  Ruby and Sapphire then co-sighed the contract that Jaune had finalized.  At the completion of the payments, the house deed would be turned over to them.  With all of that finalized Ruby and Sapphire no longer had to fear losing their home.  Jaune relaxed a little as well.

 

            In the few months that followed, everything seemed to be going better, except that Ruby still was unable to get a job.  With the recession in full swing, companies were not hiring and if they were, there were a ton of over qualified individuals fighting for the opening.  The first time Sapphire and Ruby were unable to make a payment Jaune assured them that it was ok and that she understood.  They could make up for it later.  However, when they couldn’t make the second one in a row, Ruby was at her wits end.

            “It doesn’t matter what I do or try!  I can’t provide for them!  Hundreds of job applications, over thirty in-person interviews, and NOTHING!” Ruby paced around Jaune’s house.  “What can I do?  We can’t keep missing our payments to you, but we can’t afford them either.  We’re scraping by with what Sapphire has been able to earn with her tutoring, but it’s not enough.  Ughhhhh!  What else can I do?  I can’t fail my family, what if CPS checks in on Garnet and they find us unsuitable to keep her?”

            “Ruby, they wouldn’t do that,” Jaune stated.  “She’s not malnourished, or mistreated, you both love her to the ends of the Earth, there is no way they could find something to take her away.”

            “What about us missing payments?”

            “That’s strictly between you two and me, no one else is involved.”

            “Fine, but what can I do?!  What other skills besides my accounting do I have that I can use to earn money?  I’ve tried fast food, diners, even janitorial, but somehow someone always beats me to the punch!”

            Light hazel eyes glanced down and caught sight of the yellow diamond pendant hanging around her neck.

            “There is a way you could earn money by beating them to the punch,” Yellow Diamond stated with a microscopic smirk.

            One of Ruby’s eyebrows raised up high at the sudden change in her friend’s tone.

            “How?” she dared to ask.

 

            Ruby kept pace with her taller friend’s ridiculously long strides.  Her eyes shifted quickly, the place she was being guided to reeked of trouble.

            “Where are we going?” Ruby asked her voice low.

            “To another place I have a considerable investment in,” Yellow Diamond simply stated.

            “Alright,” the curly haired woman shrugged.

            They approached a heavily guarded metal door.  Two of the guards turned to face them and bowed respectfully.

            “Welcome, ma’am, your guest?”

            “Good evening Charles, yes she is my guest tonight.”

            “Welcome, ma’am,” he directed towards the shorter of the two.

            “Ruby, is fine,” Ruby shifted uncomfortably.

            “Of course, Ruby.”

            They walked through the door and weaved through a series of concrete hallways, the two bodyguards following at a respectful distance.  Ruby glanced up at her friend, weirded out by the change in behavior and the odd look in her eyes.  That and Jaune normally didn’t wear this much eye liner.  Just what had Jaune involved herself in?  Ruby could hear the sounds of crowds cheering and the electronic voices of announcers.  The smell of concession style food and alcohol made its way to her nostrils.  They eventually emerged looking up at a hexagonal platform where two fighters were currently engaged in combat.

            “Welcome to The Ember Colosseum,” Yellow Diamond stated as she spread her arms out.

            It took a solid couple of minutes for the smaller woman to take in the sight around her and figure out exactly why they were here.

            “You want me to fight?” she rounded on Jaune.

            “If you want to, I would bet on you winning, and if you did I’d give you a cut of the earnings.”

            “What?!  This isn’t some scratch card lottery J-”

            “It’s Yellow Diamond,” she cut the shorter off.  “I go by that here; you can just call be Yellow if you want.”

            Ruby’s head spun, warning bells ringing in her mind.  “You want to bet on my fighting for me to earn money?”

            “You asked me for an idea, here is one.”

            “I don’t know…Sapphire won’t like it.”

            Yellow Diamond rolled her eyes.  “Let me set up a trial run for you.  One match in two weeks.  I’ll arrange the time and who you will fight.  One thousand will be bet on you winning.  If you win you get fifty percent of the payout.  If you lose I lose one thousand dollars.  Simple as that.  A no risk opportunity for you.”

            “Just one?”

            “Just one.”

            “What style?  It looks like MMA.”

            “Yes, I’ll go over the allowed and banned moves.  You had a solid boxing record in college, you should be able to compete here.”

            “Fine, I’ll try it.  Give me two weeks to get rid of the rust and then we’ll see how it goes.”

            “Great,” Yellow Diamond grinned.

            “But!  You can’t tell Sapphire, I’ll decide on what I say to her, when I talk to her, ok?”

            “Agreed,” Yellow Diamond extended her hand.

            Ruby shook her hand, then shoved her hand into her pocket.  “Now let’s get out of here, this place gives me the creeps.”

            “You don’t want to observe any potential competition?”

            “I can’t afford to stay, no spending money.”

            The Diamond laughed and put an arm around the shorter woman’s neck.  “You’re with me, you won’t have to worry about paying for anything.”

            A pained smile crept onto Ruby’s face as she was dragged out into the stands.

 

            In two weeks Ruby had her match.  Her opponent was large but slow.  The fight took nearly fifteen minutes, but the small fireball came out victorious.  Her left hook still had its lethal drive to it, even after a few years of inactivity.  Ruby bounced slightly as one of the athletic trainers cleaned up her face; the adrenaline coursing through her veins and the elation of winning felt great.  Yellow Diamond walked into the shared locker room holding a wad of cash.  The athletic trainer left after finishing his work.

            “How was that?” Ruby grinned.  “Not bad for not fighting in seven years.”

            “Not bad at all, you certainly surprised all of the bookies.  They had it stacked well against you,” Yellow Diamond smirked.

            “So what did I win?”

            Yellow Diamond handed half of the wad to Ruby.  The boxer counted up the bundles of $100 dollar bills.  Five thousand dollars in total.  A low whistle was made.

            “Damn, that’s a lot of cash.  None of these are counterfeit, right?”

            “Of course not.  This may be a place for gambling, drinking, drugs, and fighting, but we don’t create fake money.”

            Ruby counted out three bundles and extended them to Yellow Diamond.  “Here’s our two missing payments.”

            The businesswoman shook her head.  “I have that right here,” she said as she held up three bundles from her own stack.

            “What?  We agreed on fifty-fifty.”

            “We did, and I’m feeling generous tonight.  I gambled one thousand, you won me ten, three went to payments, five went to your pay, and I walk home with two.  I doubled my return, not a bad deal for a trial run.”

            “A trial run, huh?” Ruby stared at the money in her hands.  “What if…what if this wasn’t just a onetime deal?”

            “What do you mean?” Yellow Diamond tried to act like she didn’t know what Ruby was considering.

            “Well, I still don’t have a job, and this…as long as I won, could really help us out.  But I’d need to talk to Sapphire about it, she might take some convincing,” Ruby grimaced.  “Speaking of which, what time is it?”

            “11:31pm,” Yellow Diamond glanced at her gold watch.

            “Shit, I gotta get home, Sapphire’s gonna be pissed!”

            “I’m done with my work here as well, I can drive you back now.”

            “Thanks,” the boxer said as she quickly packed up her gear.

            Yellow Diamond followed Ruby up to the door.  The shorter carefully unlocked the door and opened it, taking small steps into the living room.  A light clicked on to reveal Sapphire sitting on the couch with her arms and legs crossed and a frown on her face.

            “Sapphy,” Ruby began with a panicked smile on her face.

            “You said you would be home by 11,” came the cold tone.

            The businesswoman shut the door behind her.

            “Things went a little longer than anticipated, we lost track of time-”

            Sapphire was at Ruby’s side in an instant, holding her face and scrutinizing the swelling around her eye and lips.

            “You’re hurt, what happened?”

            “Well I-”

            “Where were you two?”

            Yellow Diamond looked at Ruby, surprised.  “I thought you told her.”

            “I-”

            “Ruby told me the two of you were going out for a couple of drinks to watch some boxing matches in a sports bar.”

            The curly haired woman swallowed thickly.  The tallest pinched the bridge of her nose.

            “Why are you hurt, Ruby?”

            “I agreed to fight a match tonight for Jaune tonight.  She gambled on me winning and I won.”  The bundles of money were pulled out of her duffle bag.  “I got half of the winnings and our two payments have been taken care of.”

            The temperature in the room dropped several degrees.  Sapphire shook ever so slightly.  When she eventually spoke it came out in an icy whisper.

            “You went off to fight and earn blood money?”

            “It’s not-” Ruby tried.

            “And you dragged her into this?!” Sapphire rounded on Yellow Diamond.

            “It’s completely legal, the earnings are from a bet and the money comes from others who lost their bets or the concession stands,” the tall blonde defended.

            “It’s a refereed fight with rules, less rules, but it’s not as bad as it looks,” the boxer tried again.

            Sapphire crossed her arms and glared at the both of them through her bangs.

            “I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you on what I was doing tonight with Jaune.  I figured you would shoot down this idea, but I wanted to try it.  This way I can fight a few times a year and actually make some money to support the family.  Once I get a job I won’t need to do this, but until then, this isn’t that bad of a solution.”

            The boxer’s wife still looked off to the side.

            “Jaune can set up the fights, then she bets on me winning, and then we get a portion of that money.”

            “What happens if you lose?”

            “Ruby would lose the percentage she was claiming of my bet,” Yellow Diamond spoke up.

            “What?” Ruby looked at her with confusion and shock.

            “It’s a gamble.  Before each match we’ll agree to the percentage of my bet you want to own, if you win you get that same percentage of the payout, if you lose, you would then owe me that percentage you claimed.”

            “Why can’t I just not earn anything?”

            “Because it’s a risk.  There has to be a motivation to win, I don’t want to invest my money in a fighter that won’t stress if she loses.  I manage all of my other fighters the same way.”

            “Just what are you in this place?  I get that you’re high up, but you have fighters?”

            “I am Yellow Diamond, one of the four Diamonds that manage and control The Ember Colosseum.  When I was twenty-six I found the place and turned it from a wasted potential into a profitable business.  As a result, I was allowed to become one of the heads of operation.  You asked me for a way for you to earn money and I gave you this, you can take it or leave it.”

            The couple was silent as they tried to understand just what had caused their usually kind and warm friend to become so sharp and cold.  Sapphire was the one to speak first.

            “How are you ok with betting on your friend like that?”

            “It’s not the first time I’ve bet on Ruby’s fighting.”

            “What?” Ruby said incredulously.

            “Back in college, at your boxing matches, there were bookies there and I would bet twenty or so dollars on your matches.  Where do you think I got the money to pay for our celebratory meals afterwards?” Yellow Diamond shrugged.

            They both just stared at her.

            “No,” Sapphire stated.  “Absolutely not, Ruby you will not do this again.  I appreciate your desire to want to help out financially, but this is not the way to go.  You’ll find a job soon.”  She turned to Jaune.  “And I thought you had given up that bad habit.”

            “I dropped scratch cards and moved to something much more reliable and lucrative.  I only bet one thousand on Ruby tonight, and she came home with five thousand,” Yellow Diamond simply stated.

            Sapphire took in a quick breath.  She looked at her wife.  Ruby held out the cash to prove the statement.  The long haired blonde sat down at the table, slowly shaking her head.

            “No.  I don’t care how much you can win; we will find another way.  Not just because of the shady set up and environment, but because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

            “I’m sorry Sapphy, I should have told you.  I won’t go behind your back like that again,” Ruby made to hug her wife.

            Sapphire stood up, her arms crossed.  “Good.  You know where the extra blankets and pillows are.”  She looked up at their friend.  “Jaune, please think about what you’ve gotten involved in.  I understand you must have put a lot of work into it, but your company is just as successful, if not more.  And don’t _ever_ endanger Ruby like that again.  Good night you two.”

            With that the woman turned and went into the master bedroom, closing the door behind her.  Ruby grimaced and glanced up at Jaune.  She sighed heavily and threw her duffel bag by the couch.  Jaune left without another word.

 

            The Ember Colosseum was not talked about again after that.  Eventually Ruby was no longer banned to the couch, however, her attempts to find work, were still in vain.  There were a few times that she acquired some temporary work, but it never lasted long or provided much.  As the recession wore on to the next year a couple of Sapphire’s clients didn’t renew her tutoring services and a few others did only at a reduced price.  It didn’t take much longer for Sapphire to agree to let Ruby fight again.  With their hard earned savings reduced to pennies and a pitiful balance in their regular account, there was no other option.  True to her talent, Ruby won the next two matches, but lost the third.  As the months rolled on, the three came to an agreement on how often Ruby would fight and stated that she could stop fighting whenever she wanted.  After a year Sapphire expressed the desire to watch the fights.  If Ruby was going to fight Sapphire wanted to watch so she could support her wife, even though she still hated the place.  Yellow Diamond gave her a yellow card and explained what it was good for.  She couldn’t tell if Sapphire thanked or hated her for it.

            In the third year since the stock crash, Ruby was finally able to get a full time job working janitorial for a large company.  The number of times Ruby fought a year was reduced.  Garnet was growing fast, she was in first grade now and was well over half as tall as her mothers.  The young child first watched a match in The Ember Colosseum when she was eight.  Sapphire had been unable to get a babysitter for the night, and Garnet had pleaded to go see what her Mum did.  Against Sapphire's better judgment, she agreed, but then regretted it.  Garnet was thrilled by the fights and wanted Ruby to teach her everything her knew.  She also wanted to keep on going to the fights, which Sapphire quickly banned her from.  Yellow Diamond secretly gave Garnet a yellow card, telling her she could use it when she was teenager.  It didn’t take long before Sapphire noticed the card in Garnet’s room.  The offending object was confiscated and Jaune was given a huge lecture and an even colder shoulder that lasted for weeks.

            Despite the bumps in the road, the small family was finally able to recover from the hard times and rebuild their savings.  Chunks of the house payment were made with each win along with that standard monthly payments.  Everything was working out well.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot was explained in this chapter from the house, the loan, to how Ruby started fighting. Here we also see the start of a multiple personalities disorder that Jaune has with Yellow Diamond. Get ready for the last installment of the flashback!
> 
> If you have not noticed, there is an ending chapter, so I will continue posting every 3-4 days until it is complete.
> 
> I am also going to announce my next work on the next chapter, so you have until then to give me your input on the works I listed last chapter. There were a few interested parties in the comments of "Fuse with Me" so those will be taken into consideration.
> 
> Thank you all for your input so far and your awesome comments on my work!! I love it :D


	31. A Look into the Past Part Four: Building a Disaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the last segment of the flashbacks! Warning, heed the chapter title, feels oncoming. Also check the end notes for the announcement for my next work. :)

^^^^^^

Jaune reflects on the events that contributed to her downward spiral and her current situation.

^^^^^^

 

            Light hazel eyes scanned over the paper once again.  Everything was in order and worded just how it would need to be for an official will.  Her eyes stopped when they picked up a particular sentence.  She looked up at her two friends.

            “Are you serious here?”

            “About you being our executor?” Ruby clarified.

            “I wasn’t too surprised about that one, but about me becoming Garnet’s guardian if something were to ever happen to the both of you before she turned eighteen?  Do you think that’s a good idea?”

            “We talked about it for a long time,” Sapphire began.  “Of all our friends she is the most familiar with you, you’re like her aunt.  As for being chosen over any of our families, they don’t know Garnet, and we would hate to put her in a household that wouldn’t be supportive of her if she was like us.”

            “Oh…”  Jaune had never thought of that, but it was a legitimate concern.  “What about Garnet’s friends?”

            “Amethyst’s family was a possibility, but it would be hard for them financially to be responsible for another child; despite what we could leave to help with Garnet’s care.  We couldn’t think of any other families we knew well enough to trust her care to,” Ruby added.

            “Garnet knows you the best, and we trust that you would take good care of her,” Sapphire agreed.

            “Even though I have my other business and persona on the side?” Jaune brought up.

            “You love her, right?”

            “Yes, she’s just as much my family as you both are.”

            Sapphire nodded.  “Then we trust that you would do what’s best for her.  You may need to work on your disciplinary skills, but you’ve been encouraging of Garnet and very loving towards her.”

            “But this is only if something happens to both of you,” Jaune tried to point out.  “You’re both in great health and have no dangerous hobbies.  Garnet is already nine years old, she’ll be eighteen before you can even blink.”

            “Do you agree to be her guardian?  If not, we can try to find someone else.”

            Jaune exhaled and ran her fingers through her hair.  “Yes, I agree.  I’m deeply honored that you both would pick me out of everyone else.  I promise I’ll take good care of Garnet if something were to ever happen to either of you.”

            “Thank you,” they both smiled.

            “Let’s finish this up though, I hate talking about the possibility of something happening to either of you,” Jaune pushed, suppressing a shiver.

            Ruby laughed a little.  “It was Sapphy’s idea!”

            “I just wanted us to be prepared that’s all,” the calm woman defended herself.

            “And that’s another thing I love about you,” Ruby said as she kissed her on the lips.

            A wry smile crossed Jaune’s face.  She didn’t even consider the possibility of anything happening to her two dear friends any time soon.

 

            Sapphire- [Garnet will be at Amethyst’s house, thanks for offering to watch her.]

            Jaune- [No problem, thanks for letting me know.  Enjoy your date!]

            Sapphire- [Thank you, drive safely, the weather forecast says it’s going to get pretty bad later tonight.]

            Jaune- [The same goes for you two.  If it gets really bad, I’ll just sleep in my office.]

            Sapphire- [You really should sleep in your own bed more often.]

            Jaune- [Don’t worry about me, you two enjoy yourselves.]

            Sapphire- [Ruby says “WE WILL!”]

            The tall blonde chuckled to herself as texting conversation ended.  Her attention was turned back to her work.

            Around 10pm her phone rang.  She glanced at it, an unknown number, at first she was going to ignore it, but she decided to answer the phone on a whim.

            “Hello?”

            “Is this Jaune Simmons?” an unfamiliar deep voice came from the other side.

            “Yes, this is her, who is this?”

            “I am Officer West.”

            The words from the officer were slowly drowned out as white noise invaded her hearing.  She understood which hospital she was being asked to come to and she knew who she was listed as an emergency contact for.  Her body moved without her really thinking.  She was in her jeep and pulling up to the hospital in what seemed like seconds.  Eyes didn’t register the two crumpled cars sitting on tow trucks.  Officer West met her at the designated spot and guided her through the dim hallways.  Jaune tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut that grew as she passed the PCU and the ICU.  They were going deeper.  Officer West brought her to a room with body sized cabinets covering the walls.  Three were open showing the still forms covered with white sheets.  Jaune put her hand to her mouth as she took hesitant steps forward.

            _No…Please, no._

“We just need you to confirm the identities of these two,” the officer stated sadly.

            The first blanket was pulled down.  Tears were already rolling down her cheeks.

            “Ru-Ruby Erutav,” Jaune choked.

            She didn’t need to see the second, she already knew who it was.  The second was removed as well.

            “Sapp-” Jaune took a deep breath trying to keep the remains of her composure.  “Sapphire Erutav.”

            “Thank you Ms. Simmons.”

            They led her into another room where she could sit down.  It was an accident, icy roads and a drunk driver, who was the third covered figure in the room.  She heard about the next of kin being contacted and the need for the couple’s daughter to be located and informed.  Jaune knew where Garnet was and told him through her tears that she would be able to take care of that responsibility.  Officer West told her that she could contact him for the full report when she was ready.  One of the nurses asked her if she needed anything, but Jaune just shook her head.  The CEO could have stayed there for hours succumbing to her pain, but she needed to get to Garnet.  The Cardoso’s would start to worry when Ruby and Sapphire didn’t come in time to pick her up.  She wiped away the tears and made her way through the harsh blizzard towards her jeep.  Normally she dove a much nicer car, but in the winter time the jeep was best for staying on the road.

            Mrs. Cardoso opened up the door, the warmth of the family’s home escaping into the freezing night air.  She greeted Jaune with slight worry and informed her that Garnet was playing with Amethyst in the family room.  At the closing of the door she heard Amethyst complain loudly that she didn’t want Garnet to leave.

            “My Mums are back!” Garnet’s accented voice called out as her willowy figure quickly ran towards the entry way.  Bare feet slowed a little when covered eyes spotted Jaune waiting for her and not her mothers.  “Jaune?” came the question.

            Jaune couldn’t bear to look at Garnet.  She knelt down and beckoned her into her arms.  Tears ran down Jaune’s face and onto Garnet’s shoulder as she desperately clung to the not so small child.

            “Jaune?  Where are my Mums?”

            The businesswoman sobbed.

            “Jaune, please, what’s wrong?  Where are they?” Garnet’s voice pleaded in her ear.

            Jaune released her and forced herself to look at Garnet.  “I’m sorry Garnet.  I’m so, so sorry.”

            Realization seeped into Garnet’s face, Jaune was shamefully glad that she couldn’t see the child’s eyes.  Two trails of tears formed on Garnet’s cheeks.

            “No…”

            “I’m sorry,” Jaune barely uttered.

            _It wasn’t supposed to end like this._

            “NO!” Garnet shouted as she pulled away from Jaune’s hands.

            _This wasn’t supposed to happen._

            Garnet bolted for the door, opening it and running into the storm before anyone could react.  Jaune’s body jumped to her feet and she was sprinting after her as soon as her mind registered where Garnet was going.

            “Garnet!” Jaune called after her, heeled booted feet just keeping up with the fast child.

            Garnet unlocked the front door with her set of keys and ran inside, calling out for her mothers.  Jaune was just seconds behind her, panting heavily as she closed the door.  Garnet was going through every spot in the house calling out for her moms.  Eventually she walked back towards the front door to see only Jaune standing there.

            “There was an accident,” Jaune tried to begin.

            “NO!” the dark child shouted again before sprinting into the master bedroom.

            The door was slammed shut with a loud bang and Jaune could hear the click of a lock.

            “Garnet!”

            Jaune quickly followed, grabbing a towel on the way, finding the key and unlocking the door.

            “LEAVE!” the small form shouted as she lay curled up on the queen sized bed.

            “No,” Jaune stated as she walked towards the bed.  “You ran all the way here in your bare feet, I need to make sure you don’t get frostbite.”

            Garnet continued to protest, kicking her feet and burying herself into the pillows.  Jaune was able to wrangle her feet together and dry them off.  They were ice cold to the touch.  She wrapped her large hands around them, using her own body heat to warm them up.  The child had stopped resisting and was now just crying into the pillows.  After a few minutes her feet were warm enough to be released.  Jaune folded up the towel and set if off to the side.  She turned to look at Garnet, her exhaustion hitting her full force as she watched the child.  She didn’t know what to do.  How was she going to comfort Garnet?  Could she even comfort Garnet?  Her own composure was already breaking again as tears ran down her cheeks.  What should she do?  She should stay with Garnet, that much was clear.

            “May I join you?” the woman tried.

            Garnet shook her head.

            “Alright.  I’m going to grab a chair and I’ll be right outside the door, ok?  Do you want any water, or a blanket?”

            Garnet shook her head once again.

            Jaune sighed.  “Please let me know when you need something.”  She leaned forward and was able to kiss Garnet on the cheek.  “I love you Garnet.”

            Jaune stood up and closed the adjoining master bathroom door before closing the master bedroom door.  She grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and posted it by the door.  Her tall form slumped into it, she knew she wasn’t going to get any rest tonight.

            The next couple of days were a mess.  She didn’t remember much, they all blurred together.  There was some cooking, trying to get Garnet to eat, trying to talk to Garnet, but everything was met with a silence.  Tears, lots of tears.  A number of unwanted visitors, Jaune didn’t want to speak to anyone right now.  It didn’t help to take her mind off of things by trying to work.  Luckily Ms. Pearl was on top of everything and assured her that the company would be well managed while she took some personal time off for the family emergency.  Mrs. Cardoso and Amethyst dropped by one day.  A full tray of chicken enchiladas and a concerned look as the woman noticed the number of bottles of alcohol in the recycling bin.  Amethyst quietly walked down the hallway and attempted to strike up a conversation with Garnet through the door.

            “Pull yourself together,” the older, plump woman chided.  “How are you going to be able to be a support for Garnet if you are in shambles?”

            “I just lost my family, Maria,” Jaune grumbled.  “How can you expect me to be in one piece?”

            “Not all of it, Garnet is still here, for now.”

            The tall blonde looked away.

            “First off no more drinking for you, second there is a funeral that needs to be planned, third, you need to be able to prove to CPS that you can be a responsible guardian, otherwise they might place her with someone they deem fitting.”

            “No!  They can’t do that!  It’s in their will!” Jaune shouted, standing up.

            “A will that has yet to be opened.  You know I don’t completely trust you, but if you want to keep their daughter and keep your promise, you need to pull yourself together.  Garnet is Amethyst’s best friend and it has been hurting her as well to see her friend in such a state.”

            “Fine,” Yellow Diamond gritted her teeth.  “I need to run some errands, are you willing to watch over her for the next couple of hours?”

            “That is why I came over,” Maria stated.

            The businesswoman nodded.  “Thank you.”

            She took a plastic plate, served up a portion of the enchiladas, and filled a cup full of water.  With a few long strides she was at the closed door.  Amethyst looked up at her.  Jaune tried the door but found it locked, again.  She sighed and fished the key out of her pocket, carefully opening it and walking in with the food.  Amethyst followed her in quietly.  The plate full of food from lunch was where it had been left, completely untouched.  Jaune swapped out the plates and then sat down next to Garnet’s curled form.

            “Garnet,” she began, hand carefully rubbing Garnet’s back.  “Amethyst and Mrs. Cardoso brought chicken enchiladas over for you to eat.”

            The child didn’t move.

            “You need to eat.  We’re very worried about you.”

            Still no response.

            “Please, Garnet.”

            Slowly, Garnet sat up, swollen mismatched irises stared down at the floor.  Jaune grabbed the plate and set it in her hands.  A sigh of relief escaped her form as the child began to eat.  Amethyst jumped up on the bed and sat on the other side of Garnet.

            “We made them specially for you, full of love,” Amethyst grinned.

            Garnet didn’t react.  The smaller child frowned.

            After sometime Garnet pushed the half eaten plate into Jaune’s hands.  The woman set it aside and handed Garnet the water; which was dutifully drunk.  Jaune rubbed Garnet’s back and pulled her in for a hug, kissing her a couple of times on her temple.

            “I love you.”  She kissed her again.  “I’ll be gone for just a couple of hours to run a few errands and then I will be back.  Amethyst and Mrs. Cardoso will be here if you need anything.  Ok?”

            Garnet pulled away from them both and resumed her spot on the bed.

            The tall woman sighed.  “Let’s give Garnet her space,” Jaune said to Amethyst.

            “Ok…Love you!” Amethyst quickly said as she plopped on top of her friend and hugged her.

            The two left the room and gently closed the door.  Jaune threw away the old food, then put a fresh pair of clothes for Garnet next to the child letting her know that she wanted her to take a shower.  With those items taken care of Yellow Diamond bade farewell to Mrs. Cardoso and Amethyst.

            If there was one thing that Yellow Diamond was good at, it was taking charge.  After collecting the needed supplies for her stay at the Erutav’s she returned.  Mrs. Cardoso and gotten rid of all the alcohol in the house, which was fine with her.  The fridge was filled with groceries, Jaune showered and changed into a fresh suit.  Garnet had also done the same, thankfully.  With now just the two of them in the house, Yellow Diamond made all of the arrangements for the funeral to happen that coming Sunday.  She also found the will and opened it; only to break down once again.

            The funeral came far too quickly.  Jaune was able to coax Garnet out of the room and into some appropriate clothes.  The child stayed attached to her side the whole time.  It was painful.  Jaune made sure that Garnet got to see her mothers privately.  Garnet’s anguished cries were just as painful, if not more, than seeing the embalmed faces of her two closest friends.  They sat at the front, holding onto each other throughout the entire program.  Ms. Pearl diligently fended off anyone trying to talk to either of them, unless it was Amethyst or someone equally important.  It was almost over when Jaune noticed two sets of older couples.  One she barely recognized, while the other she had never seen before, but the familiar features the mothers and fathers shared with their respective daughters made Yellow Diamond see red.  The two older couples made their way towards Garnet and Yellow Diamond.  Ms. Pearl stepped forward to intercept them, but Yellow Diamond motioned for her to let them pass.

            “Such a tragic event,” Mr. Erutav spoke, putting a comforting arm around his wife who was wiping at her tears.

            “I can think of more tragic things,” Yellow Diamond snapped, glaring down the two sets of parents.  She took a deep breath, she needed to calm down.

            Garnet looked up at her, concern and confusion on her partially covered face.

            “We understand the pain you are feeling as well,” Mrs. Coleman stepped in.  “We all wished it could have ended differently.”

            Yellow Diamond held back her next retort.  “I agree,” she managed.

            “You must be Garnet,” Mrs. Erutav turned to the child, not really having to bend down at all to be eye level with her.

            Garnet simply held onto the back of Jaune’s suit coat tighter.

            “Ruby told us about you.  We don’t know what arrangements have been made for your care, but we’d love to take you in and help raise you in a proper home.  Would you like that?”

            It took all of her strength to not knock the woman out right then and there.

            _How dare you say that!_

            Garnet moved to stand behind Jaune.

            “I see,” she sighed.  “Well maybe we can get to know each other better.  Maybe set up a couple of visits?”

            “Now is not the best time to discuss this,” Yellow Diamond cut her off.  “If either of you want to get to know Garnet, you can leave your contact information with Ms. Pearl.  When and if Garnet wants to, we will contact you.”

            “Ah, I thought I recognized you,” Mr. Coleman spoke up.  “Jaune Simmons, Sapphire and Ruby’s roommate from college, right?”

            “That is correct, we actually shared the same apartment until they got married.”

            “I think I speak for all of us here when I say that I wish things could have gone differently.  No parent should have to watch their precious child be put into the ground.”

            “Agreed,” Mr. Erutav nodded.

            _No child should be rejected by their parents for being themselves!_

            “Well, there isn’t much than can be done about it now.  It’s best to remember the good memories we have of them and cherish them.  In the other room we have the refreshments and a table for people to write down some of their memories of the two.  You should stop by there before you leave,” Yellow Diamond closed the conversation.

            “We will,” Mr. Coleman agreed, “I have two requests.  May we introduce ourselves to Garnet and can we have the address so we can attend the burial?”

            Yellow Diamond breathed out heavily.  She waited to see if Garnet wanted to come out or not.  Slowly the tall child stepped out and looked at them.

            “Garnet, I am Vincent Coleman and this is Jube Coleman, we are your mother Sapphire’s parents, so that makes us your grandparents,” he smiled.  “We look forward to seeing you another time.”

            “Garnet, I am Cherise Erutav, and this is my husband Ricardo Erutav, we share the same last name.  We are your grandparents from Ruby’s side,” Mrs. Erutav spoke next.

            The dark child didn’t say anything.  Jaune placed a comforting hand on Garnet’s far shoulder.

            “It’s been a long week,” she simply answered.  “Ms. Pearl can give you the address of the burial.  Garnet and I will be heading onto the site.”

            “Thank you, Ms. Simmons, it means a lot,” Mr. Coleman said as Jaune turned to walk away.

            Jaune glanced over her shoulder, but didn’t say anything.  They walked to her jeep and got in.  Ms. Pearl stepped in right after, catching up easily.  There was a small crowd at the burial, only a few close friends and now the couple’s parents.  Amethyst hugged Garnet through the whole thing.  Jaune willed her tears to stop, but they wouldn’t listen.  Once they got back home Garnet got out of her suit and retreated into the master bedroom, locking herself in.  Jaune slept in her chair in the hallway.

            After another week Garnet finally willfully emerged from the room.  Jaune explained to her what was going to happen and asked if she was ok with her moving in and being her guardian.  Garnet readily agreed, glad that she would be there at least.  It took a bit of work for Jaune to adjust to taking care of another human, but she was able to mostly figure it out with a lot of help from Ms. Pearl and Mrs. Cardoso and many learning experiences.  Garnet’s mood seemed neutral at best, and it worried her.  At first they tried counseling, Garnet went for a little while, but after a few weeks the child expressed that she didn’t want to go anymore.  When Jaune inquired as to why, the dark child simply stated that it wasn’t helping.  Jaune then met with the counselor to see if the woman could shed any light onto why Garnet wanted to stop.  The counselor was only able to provide that Garnet never really said much during their visits.  That night the guardian asked Garnet if there was anything she would like to talk about.  Only with a little prodding did the child open up and the two of them talked about their worries, things troubling them, and their heartache.  Many tears were shed, but in the end they both felt a little better.

 

            That summer Jaune asked Garnet if there was anything she would like to try in the realms of extra-curricular activities.  After many suggestions and inquiries, Garnet quietly admitted that she wanted to try out boxing.  At first Jaune was surprised, but then it made sense, boxing is what Ruby had taught her.  When she picked Garnet up after the first day of boxing, the preadolescent was talkative and fired up about what she had learned that day.  Garnet was smiling for the first time in months.  Jaune smiled in return, relieved that she had found something that made her happy.  It wasn’t long until Amethyst pulled Garnet into basketball and the two were troublemakers on the court.  During one of the club games Garnet punched another player with an almost perfect cross after getting elbowed several times by the same player.  Jaune couldn’t bring herself to really reprimand Garnet for such good form and for showing the other that she was not to be messed with, but she did try to stress that punching in basketball would only get her in trouble.

            The child quickly grew up.  It had been awkward going over the birds and the bees with Garnet before middle school, along with the changes that would occur as she went through puberty.  Soon wardrobe changes were in order.  Before Jaune knew it Garnet was starting high school and was pulled up to the JV basketball team her freshman year.  She also had to adjust to looking straight across instead of down.  Garnet was almost as tall as she was.  They even had Amethyst compare the two, only for the dark teen to be aggravated that she was still an inch shorter than Jaune.  Garnet also managed to inherit Ruby’s sense of humor but with the delivery capabilities of Sapphire.  The self-proclaimed “Master of Comedy” loved to be the cause of her friends’ or teammates’ laughter.  She also began to tease her guardian relentlessly, especially enjoying her discomfort when she would ask about Jaune’s experience with dating, kissing, and more.  Through it all, Jaune always cherished all of those moments she had with Garnet.  She was becoming the kind of person Jaune knew Ruby and Sapphire would be proud of.

            Despite the progress and happy times, Jaune knew that both she and Garnet still had a lot of healing to do before they would be able to recover from the loss.  However, she was at a loss at how to.  Garnet coped by retreating to the untouched master bedroom whenever she wanted to speak to them, Jaune coped by losing herself in her work.  For a brief time, she had turned towards drinking more than usual, but one night Garnet saw her and got angry.  Jaune had never been more surprised or scared of the wrath the ten and a half year old displayed as she shouted at her for carelessly consuming something that had contributed to her parents death.  The child’s anger only settled down once Jaune promised that she wouldn’t drink any more than one drink at a time, and swore that she would never drink and drive.  Two promises she did keep.  As the years wore on, Jaune found herself enjoying more her role as Yellow Diamond than she did as Jaune Simmons.  Yellow Diamond was strong and in control.  Yellow Diamond never made mistakes, she never got hurt.  But she could never give up Jaune completely, she still was the CEO for her company, a position she had no intention of giving up, and Garnet was always there to pull her back.  It was in the happy times with Garnet that the pain from losing her two best friends was soothed, Garnet indeed was her family.

 

            One evening after Garnet had come home after basketball practice, now a sophomore on the varsity team, the teen was more quiet than usual.

            “Something on your mind?” Jaune inquired during dinner.

            Garnet shrugged.

            “Well, feel free to talk to me when you’re ready.”

            The dark teen nodded.  After dinner and dishes, Garnet approached Jaune in the second bedroom.

            “Jaune,” her deeper accented voice began.

            “Yes?” the guardian turned away from her laptop.

            “I want to know about the house.”

            The tall blonde was surprised by this.  “What do you want to know about the house?”

            “Everything.  Who does it currently belong to?  If it doesn’t belong to my Mums then, what would I need to do get make it that way?”

            So Jaune explained everything, from the market crash to the methods Ruby and Sapphire employed to make payments to her.  Garnet thoughtfully looked over the paperwork.

            “When they passed away, they still owed $392,000 on it.  So the house still belongs to you.”

            “Yes, but when you are ready, and if you want, you could make payments on it to finish off the debt.  Then it would become yours.”

            Garnet hummed seriously, but then didn’t talk about it for the rest of the night.  Jaune was about to brush off the oddness of Garnet’s inquiry when the teen wanted to speak with her again about it the next day.

            “Could I start making payments whenever I wanted?” she began.

            “Technically yes, but you don’t necessarily have the means to do so right now.”

            “Yes, but I could have the means if I fought, like Ruby did.”

            Jaune stared at Garnet for a solid moment.  “Why?”

            “You could arrange my fights and handle the gambling like you did with Ruby.  I’ve been doing boxing for over five years now, I’ve won a few tournaments-”

            “A few tournaments with padding is nothing like a real MMA fight Garnet.  It’s not a place for children.”

            “I know it’s not, I’ve been studying, Amethyst and I go to the fights all the time, I could handle it.”

            “Why do you want to do this?”

            Garnet looked down the hall at the master bedroom.  “It’s all I have of them, I want to help finish their dream.”

            Looking back on it, Jaune should have never even entertained the idea, but she did.  In a couple of weeks Garnet had her trial match, she easily passed as looking like an adult, so no one questioned her listed age when she was checked in.  Yellow Diamond watched the fight from the Diamond’s booth.  The match didn’t last long, in nearly three minutes Garnet had reduced the older and more experienced fighter to a slumbering mess.  It was a thrill to watch and Yellow Diamond’s eyes glowed as her mind quickly analyzed the insane potential Fusion had as a fighter.  If Garnet continued to fight, Yellow Diamond could have the one thing Jaune had that she didn’t.  In a few weeks Garnet expressed the desire for another fight.  Yellow Diamond didn’t even hesitate to agree.  Fusion’s second match was a loss, her lack of ground game had resulted in her tapping out to an arm bar.  Right after the fight Garnet had demanded that she be taught how to fight at all levels.  Yellow Diamond eagerly took her under her wing and set up the early morning training regime.  Three months later Fusion entered the ring and demolished her next opponent.  It only took six matches spread over a year’s time before the other Diamonds moved Fusion into the middle ring.  A few months later Yellow Diamond named Fusion her champion.  Garnet was tough, she never complained about any injuries and was always willing to fight whenever Yellow Diamond informed her of her next match.

            In that same time, Jaune moved out and relocated back to her empty house.  Garnet grew stronger and reveled in her high levels of confidence that came from being a successful fighter.  Dr. Maheswaran was brought into the picture to provide personal care for Fusion and the relationship between Champion and Diamond took a more professional and emotionally distant turn. Yellow Diamond was quickly consumed by her greed and thrill she got from betting on Fusion, and Fusion enjoyed a high rate of success, paying off $64,000 earned through ten matches in a two-year time frame.  Garnet no longer had to ask for more matches, Yellow Diamond provided her with plenty.  The Diamond never flinched whenever Fusion got hit or hurt, her focus was the bottom line.  As long as Fusion won, both of them would be happy.  But then Fusion was winning yet the fighter was no longer happy.  Had the guardian been around more she might have seen it, but she was gone, removed from seeing the real effects of her pushing Garnet so hard.  Jaune didn’t fully realize just what she had been doing until she was watching Garnet battle for her life in the Iron Pitt as Jaw Breaker bore down on her.  By then it was too late.  Garnet laid on the bench covered in blood, victorious yes, but neither of them were happy with the outcome.  It took a week to come to the realization of what she had been doing all along.  She was doing the very thing that Ruby and Sapphire didn’t want, she had hurt Garnet.  She had abused her, physically, and mentally.  Yellow Diamond had taken full advantage of the teen's eagerness to pay off her family’s debt and then used it as leverage to keep Garnet fighting for her.  Garnet had trusted in managing her fights and this is what she had done with it.

 

******

 

            Jaune stared out at the white walls of the waiting room in the hospital, her gut churning with guilt.  She didn’t know how much longer she had the make it up to Garnet, but with whatever time she had left, she would do her best to be the guardian she was supposed to be.  Light hazel eyes glanced at the clock one again, any minute now they should be calling her back.

            A half an hour later one of the nurses stepped out and asked for her.  She followed the shorter woman to the recovery area, listening intensely to the brief summary of how things went.  The surgery had gone well; Garnet should be back to her regular activity levels in two months.  Jaune was directed to a set of curtains, she walked through to see Garnet awake and listening to the nurse sitting next to her.  A small smile formed on the teen's lips as she noticed Jaune walking in.  Jaune took the seat offered to her.  Dr. Curtis dropped in to check up on them and let Garnet know of her follow up appointment in a week.  He left a prescription for the pain medication and antibiotics that Garnet was to take for the next few days.  Eventually it was just the two of them in the curtained off area.

            “I have something to show you,” Jaune spoke up as she pulled out her phone and pulled up her schedule.  “Monday at 5pm I have my first appointment with Dr. Valerie Stone.  I’ve already made sure that there is nothing else going on at that time so I’ll be sure to go.  We will see how the first time goes, and then I’ll work out a regular schedule with her.”

            “Thank you,” Garnet smiled sideways.  “We’re both going to get better now.”

            Jaune leaned forward and placed a kiss on the dark teen’s hairline.  “I’m sorry, you should have never needed to get better.  I shouldn’t have pushed you for all these years.”

            Garnet looked away and sighed.  “That can’t be changed now.  Make the most of this chance you get to change and become someone I can trust again.”

            “I will.”

            It wasn’t long before Garnet was ready to leave the hospital and eat some real food, pudding cups and crackers could only satisfy her for so long.  On the way home they stopped and got a pizza from their favorite place along with Garnet’s medications.  After a late lunch the teen headed into her room to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope you all enjoyed getting a look into the past on how everything happened!
> 
> I wanted to give a quick shout out to everyone who commented and let me know their vote on my next upcoming work. You all are AWESOME!!  
> (Drum roll)  
> My next work will be the Bad Pearl/Officer Garnet mashup! A lot of people expressed interest in it, and it was also the one I was leaning towards the most. So, be on the look out for the title "Smoke and Grit". Though, no promises on when it will appear. For now enjoy the rest of Champion. :)


	32. All at Once

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are back in the present!

^^^^^^

When it rains it pours.

^^^^^^

 

            Pearl practically lunged for her phone when she heard it vibrating on her bed.  She grabbed it and grinned when she saw who was calling her.

            “Hello?”

            “Hey,” came the subdued voice.

            “Garnet! how are you?”

            Pearl heard a low chuckle.

            “Better.”

            “Everything went well I take it?”

            “Yeah, got another set of stitches, this time in my side.  How’s your Saturday going?”

            “Better,” Pearl flopped back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling; a smile playing on her thin lips.

            Garnet hummed.  “And why would that be?”

            “I dunno, maybe cause a certain friend of mine called me.”

            “Oh?” came the amused voice.  “And which friend was it?”

            “You.”

            “Me?”

            “Yes, you,” Pearl blushed.

            “I’m honored,” the dark teen chuckled.

            “I’m glad your surgery went well.  How long will your recovery be?”

            “Two months, then the time it will take to get back to where I was before.”

            “Ugh, muscle atrophy is such a bother.  It’s crazy how quickly your body acts to get rid of things you don’t use, well except for fat.”

            Garnet hummed in agreement.  “I’ve been thinking Pearl,” she spoke up after a moment of silence.

            “About what?”

            “We haven’t been on a date in a while, a real date, not a study date.  I was thinking about maybe a nice dinner, just the two of us.  What do you think?  Would you like to go on a date with me?”

            “I don’t know…” Pearl teased.  “A fancy dinner with me?  You sure you have the right number?”

            “I know I have the right number.  I’m asking out the talented, intelligent, patient, observant, and beautiful Pearl Tancerz.”

            The dancer giggled, rolling onto her side and clutching her bedspread with her open hand.

            “Alright, since you’re positive you have the right person, I’ll accept,” she playfully conceded.

            “How does this coming Friday sound?  I’ll think of a few places and you let me know if you have a preference.”

            “Surprise me,” Pearl challenged on a whim.

            “Alright, it’ll be a surprise then.  Nice casual, and I’ll pick you up at 6:00pm.”

            “I’ll put it on my calendar.”

            “Good.”

            A few moments of silence passed.

            “Thank you for calling Garnet, I really appreciate it.”

            “Of course.  I didn’t want to let you down again.”

            “Thank you.”

            Garnet took a deep breath.  “I gotta go though, gotta take my pain meds and get some rest.  I’ll see you on Monday?  Or tomorrow?  You could drop by,” the taller suggested.

            “I’m grounded from going over to your place,” Pearl reminded.

            “Yeah, but Jaune will be here, I’ll have adult supervision this time.”

            “I’ll ask, but I have a feeling they are still going to say no, it hasn’t even been a week yet since I got grounded.”

            A low huff came from the other side of the line.  “Well…let me know, but at least I’ll see you by Monday,” Garnet ended on a positive note.

            “Yes, at least Monday.  Have a good rest, Garnet.  I l- I hope you heal quickly,” Pearl blushed at her almost slip.

            “Thank you Pearl, you have a good weekend.  Bye.”

            “Bye.”

            The call ended and the dancer rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling; her heart beating a mile a minute.

 

            Rose waved good-bye to her son and husband as she stepped into Dr. Maheswaran’s car.  Greg had a fun night planned out with Steven.  The young child was very excited.

            “Evening Priyanka,” the large woman smiled.

            “Good evening, Rose.  Are you sure about wanting to see this place?”

            “Yes.  I want to understand just what kind of an environment it is.”

            “Alright,” the darker woman nodded before driving off.

            Idle chit chat passed between the two as Dr. Maheswaran drove towards the Embers Way district.  She took a turn and then headed down into a tunnel.  The lit pathway eventually opened up into an underground garage.  There was one door on the far side with four burly men guarding it.

            “I will be doing any talking.  They are familiar with me,” the doctor informed in a serious tone as she parked the car.

            Rose nodded.  The two stepped out and made their way towards the door.  A tall brown haired man with a yellow tie stepped forward.

            “Dr. Maheswaran, I didn’t know you were scheduled to come in tonight.  Fusion does not have a match.”

            “I know,” Priyanka acknowledged.  “I am here just to attend the events with my guest.”  She finished as she showed a yellow card.

            “I see,” he politely nodded.  “Would you like an escort to your seats?”

            “Thank you for the offer, but we will be fine on our own.”

            “Let any of the servers know if you need something.”

            Dr. Maheswaran nodded and they were let through the double metal doors.  Rose looked back over her shoulder, somewhat floored at what just transpired.

            “What kind of connections do you have here?  How influential is Jaune?”

            “Very.  It’s a sticky place, once you get involved it’s hard to escape.  The reason why I was pulled into this place was because of the debt I owed Jaune.  She had helped me establish my patient basis when I had first started my practice.  As you can imagine, twenty years ago, not many people were trusting in a female doctor with my complexion.  She would vouch for me, send referrals, all in good will.  But somehow there’s always a catch with that woman, she needed something so she came calling to someone who “owed” her,” the doctor explained as they walked through the concrete hallways.

            The counselor frowned.  Her attention was pulled away from her friend and up into the vast opening they had walked into.  A few feet above her was a mass of people gathered together rooting for the violent scene displayed before them.  One of the fighters was slammed against the fence and his opponent repeatedly drove his knee into his gut; only then to be punched senseless.  The other fighter got several more solid hits in before the ref jumped in to stop the match.  Rose made a face and felt her stomach churn as the crowds cheered and jumped around.  The air was fresher than she had anticipated for being underground, but it didn’t completely dilute the thick scent of sweat, alcohol, tobacco smoke, and more.  She put her hand up to shield herself from the bright lights dancing around everywhere.  Dr. Maheswaran stepped off to the side and moved towards a section of seats, all mostly empty.

            “So, Garnet fought in there?” Rose confirmed.

            “Yes,” came the simple reply.

            “And they let her, even though she is a minor?”

            “From what I’ve gathered, Garnet is listed as being of age.  Due to her size and maturity no one bothered to question it.  Besides they wouldn’t want to question one of Jaune’s personal investments.”

            Rose hummed and continued to look around the place.

            “I don’t know how much you wanted to see, there will be several more fights tonight before the place shuts down and everyone leaves.  I never really stay around here more than the time I’m needed to take care of Garnet or any others Jaune asks me to briefly look at.”

            “I would like to walk around if you don’t mind.  See this place for what it is.”

            Priyanka nodded.  The two made their way up the stadium so Rose could walk around.  A few people where fighting, two security guards were on their way to break up the fight, one person was slumped against a wall, there were multiple concession stands and a huge bookie center.  Listings for the bets and payouts for each of the fight’s outcomes were displayed on a large digital screen.  This was no simple underground fighting setup this was organized entertainment that blurred the lines between the legal and illegal scene.  Overall, Rose already hated the place.  It was more or less a place to celebrate one person getting beat up by another.  A circus of violence.  It didn’t take much longer before the taller woman was ready to leave.  Dr. Maheswaran nodded and then led the way to her car.

            “We should report her tomorrow,” Rose spoke up during the silent car ride.

            “You think so?  Why not give Garnet another day to recover from her surgery?”

            Large ringlets bounced back and forth as the pale woman shook her head.  “No.  Jaune needs to be removed from caring for Garnet, she is not a suitable guardian.  The sooner the better.”

            Dr. Maheswaran sighed.  “You’re right, we’ll go in tomorrow.  I’ve already written up my portion of the report and the evidence I have.  It won’t take much for them to act.”

            “I’ll have mine ready tomorrow as well.  What time shall we meet?”

            “I don’t have work tomorrow, so how about eight am?”

            “That works perfectly for me.  Thank you for showing me Priyanka, it was very informative.”

            “You’re welcome.  I just wish I had the strength to do something earlier, maybe then I could have spared Garnet all of this pain.”

            “From my limited experiences I’ve had with Jaune, she is a hard woman to go against.  Volatile and stubborn.  I wouldn’t have evidence for all of this if you weren’t brave enough to tell me.”

            Dr. Maheswaran smiled briefly.  “Have a good night Rose.”

            “You too,” Rose smiled as she waved good-bye and walked up towards her house.

            The old car drove off and she opened the front door.  All of the lights were off, except for the hallway light that led to the dining room.

            “SURPRISE!” Greg and Steven shouted as they jumped out of nowhere.

            Their hands directed her eyes to the large strawberry shortcake sitting on the table.

            “Oh!” Rose’s eyes widened.

            “We made it for you!” Steven ran up to her.  “It’s your favorite and I got to learn how to bake a cake!”

            “Wow, really?  Thank you both.  It looks magnificent and delicious.”

            “I’ll go get the plates and silverware,” Steven volunteered.

            “All right Stew-ball, you can take care of that.  Just be careful with the knife,” Greg smiled.  “How was it?” he directed towards his wife.

            “Surprisingly uneventful.  Though the place is horrid, just the thought of one of my students competing in that environment,” she shivered involuntarily.  “I’m just happy to be back with you two; enjoying this delicious cake,” she finished with a wide smile.

            “Cake!” Steven shouted and was soon followed by the clatter of silverware against the linoleum floor.  “Oops.”

            The two parents sighed as they watched their son pick up the dropped silverware and place it in the sink.  They shared a quick kiss as Steven made his way to the table with all of the necessary plates and utensils.

 

           

            Pearl was in a good mood.  There were several contributing factors to her good mood.  One, being done with all of her AP tests, two, she had a date on Friday, three, she slept really well the night previously.  Light blue eyes glanced towards the clock.  It was almost eight o’clock at night.  In a couple of more hours she would head to bed.  Her pocket began to vibrate.  Nimble, long fingers pulled out her phone and red eyebrows scrunched up in slight confusion.  Amethyst was calling her.  She was surprised, Amethyst tended to text more than call.

            “Hello?”

            “THEY JUST TOOK HER!  THEY JUST CAME AND TOOK HER!!  FUCK, I DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY’VE TAKEN HER.  THEY WOULDN’T TELL ME.  SHIT, SHE ALMOST FOUGHT BACK.  THEY BETTER NOT HAVE HURT HER!”

            “Woah,” Pearl pulled the phone away from her ear at the frantic yelling.  “Who?  What is going on?”

            “THEY JUST TOOK HER!  SHE DOESN’T HAVE HER MEDICATION OR SHOES OR-”

            “Who?!”

            “GARNET!”

            “Wait, what?  Amethyst please take a deep breath and calm down I can barely understand what you’re saying.”

            She could hear the shorter teen trying to take deep breaths.  When it sounded like she had calmed down, Pearl gently stated,

            “Tell me what happened.”

            “I was at G-man’s you know just chilling and making fun of her for being all drugged and iced up.  Jaune was finishing the dishes when there was a loud knock on the door.  Then before I knew it there were like four police officers in the house and they were cuffing Jaune citing her for child abuse!  Like what the fuck?  I know she’s not the best, but she wouldn’t hurt Garnet.  They’re family.”

            _Child abuse?_

The world came to a screeching halt as Pearl’s mind put all of the hints together.  Jaune signing off on the work permit, Garnet’s hesitancy to tell her who Yellow Diamond was, Garnet’s lack of explanation on why Jaune was ok with her fighting.  Jaune’s sudden reappearance in Garnet’s life right after the brutal fight.  It was the only solution that made sense.

            _Jaune is Yellow Diamond._

            Pearl screeched involuntarily.

            “You ok P?  What was that?” Amethyst stopped mid-sentence.

            “Jaune is Yellow Diamond,” she muttered quietly.

            “What?  I can’t hear you.”

            “Jaune is Yellow Diamond,” Pearl repeated clearly.

            “WHAT?!  Why would you-oh….oh!”

            The pale teen could practically see the realization dawning on her friend’s face.

            “OH SHIT!  WHY THE FUCK DID I NOT SEE IT?!  NO THAT’S JUST, THAT’S SO MESSED UP.  SHIT!  FUCKING SHIT!”

            “How is Garnet doing?”

            “What do you mean?” Amethyst spoke at a normal level, clearly confused.

            “How is she taking this whole arrest?  I’m sure you’re still with her, right?”

            “No, I’m not P.”

            “Why not?”

            “That’s why I was calling you, they took Garnet as well.”

            “WHAT?  Why would the police take Garnet?  She’s the victim here,” Pearl exclaimed.

            “No, not the police, CPS.  So lemme finish telling you what happened.  Garnet was about to confront the cops when Jaune told her to stay calm, so G let them take her away.  She was upset and was grabbing her keys to follow them when CPS walked in right after the police.  The lady informed G-man that she needed to be moved to a place with adequate care.  That’s when G got defensive.  She tried telling her that she didn’t need to leave her house and that she owned the place, but CPS Lady told her she had to come with them.  Then two burly CPS guys came in and grabbed her, practically dragging her out of her _own_ damn house.  G tossed her keys to me and told me to not let anyone in her house unless she said so.  Dammit, P, G wasn’t even given a chance to pack a bag.  She doesn’t have her medication or any shoes!  What the fuck were they thinking?!”

            The red head’s mind was a whirl trying to comprehend just what had happened.  Who also knew that Jaune was Yellow Diamond?  How did CPS and the police get involved?

            “Did Garnet have her phone on her?” Pearl desperately asked.

            “Yes, but I tried calling a couple of times to find out how she is, but all I get is voicemail.  I doubt she’s ignoring me this time.”

            “How long has it been?”

            “An hour.  I was just pacing around her house freaking out, then I tried to contact her, then I didn’t hear anything, then I freaked out again, then I called you.”

            “Ok,” Pearl breathed out, trying to be the steady one of the two.  “They might have taken her phone for a little bit, but we will see her tomorrow.  They can’t keep her from school, that’s illegal.”

            “Yeah, you’re right.”

            “I have a couple of questions, did Garnet or Jaune seemed surprised by this?”

            Amethyst hummed.  “Jaune wasn’t surprised, Garnet was kinda.  But only with the police showing up, the whole CPS fiasco caught G completely off guard.”

            “Hmmm, that doesn’t really help me.  We _will_ see Garnet tomorrow, we can find out what happened then,” the dancer stated.

            “I sure hope so,” the shorter teen sighed.  “Man I’m really worried about G though, she’s probably stressing out right now.”

            “She probably is, but there’s nothing we can do right now, we’ll just make sure we’re there for her on Monday.”

            “Yeah,” Amethyst didn’t seem very assured with Pearl’s words.

            “How are you doing Amethyst?” Pearl redirected in a soft tone.

            “I’m worried.  G’s my best friend.  What if they hurt her?  What kind of friend am I for letting them take her away?”

            “Do you still have her keys?”

            “Yeah, her place is all locked up and I’m not letting anyone in unless it’s G-man herself.”

            “Here’s an idea.  You can pack a bag to give to Garnet at school tomorrow.  Like her medication, some clothes, toiletries, shoes.  So she can have all that stuff.”  Pearl was surprised at how level her voice sounded for how much her brain was screaming at her and panicking. 

            “But what if she comes to get them before school?”

            “Then you’ll have it all ready to give her.”

            “Ok,” Amethyst breathed out.  “I can do that no problem.  Yeah!  G will be super happy; I know everything she usually needs.  I’ll keep it with me and I can give it to her the instant I see her!”

            By the end of the sentence the platinum blonde’s voice was a lot brighter.

            “Thanks P, you’re good in a pinch!”

            “You’re welcome,” Pearl smiled.

            There was a small pause on the other side of the line.

            “Hey P,” came the unsure voice.

            “Yes?”

            “Can I come over after I get G’s bag?  I’m still a bit shaken up by this.”

            “Of course Amethyst.  Just call me when you’re on your way.”

            “Thanks…”

            Amethyst arrived about a half an hour later with a black duffle bag over her shoulder.  The two friends hugged each other for a few moments, comforting each other in the crazy turn of events.  Pearl’s parents were kind and understanding of Amethyst’s sudden visit.  Though Pearl hadn’t told them exactly what was going on just yet, she would do that once Amethyst was ok.  As they watched a movie the dancer searched her brain on how the police and CPS got involved.  The only logical conclusion was that Rose had probably figured it out and reported Jaune.  Tomorrow she was definitely going to speak with Rose, especially if for some reason Garnet wasn’t there.

 

            Garnet wasn’t at school on Monday.  Amethyst paced in circles during lunch clutching her hair and muttering in Spanish.  Pearl wasn’t able to calm her down, her own panic was starting to eat away at her composure and she was left sitting in her seat with her arms wrapped around her middle.  To make it worse there was still no response from Garnet’s phone.  Jasper, Lapis, and Peridot tried to make sense of everything and comfort their two panicking friends, but had little success.  At the end of the day Pearl and Amethyst ran to the office, hoping to catch Rose and talk with her.  The last front desk lady informed them that Rose had just left for the day.  Amethyst screamed out in frustration.  Pearl quickly covered the swear that was coming next and dragged her out towards the parking lot.  It shouldn’t be hard to see the tall, round woman from far away.  The shorter of the two spotted Rose stepping into a white van with stripes down the side and took off in a sprint.  Thankfully, Pearl was able to catch up.  As they neared Amethyst called out asking Rose to stop.  The counselor’s focused face turned towards them and her eyes widened in surprise.

            “Amethyst, Pearl,” she addressed them, “What’s wrong?”

            “Where’s Garnet?  Do you know where they took her?” Amethyst practically begged.

            “I-”

            “We haven’t heard from her at all, she wasn’t at school, we’re very concerned and was wondering if you knew anything about what happened last night,” Pearl quickly added, noticing the confusion in the larger woman’s face.

            “It’ll be alright, I know where Garnet is,” Rose said calmly.  “I was just about to go see her myself.  She should have been at school today.”

            “I knew!  They’re locking her up aren’t they!” Amethyst shouted.

            “They wouldn’t do that,” Pearl shot back.  “She’s with CPS not the police.”

            “Same difference!  Why the hell hasn’t she responded to us?  They probably took her phone.”

            “Now, now, why don’t you both come with me to their place?  You can follow in one of your cars.  That way we can all see that Garnet is ok and that she hasn’t been locked up or anything,” Rose suggested.

            The two teens nodded.

            “Let’s go P, I got shotgun!” Amethyst called as she began to head towards Pearl's car.

            “Don’t you want to take your car as as well?”

            “It’s not mine, it’s my family’s!  My brother probably already left with it anyway.”

            “Alright, you got shotgun.”  Pearl turned to Rose.  “I’ll be ready to follow in just a moment.”

            Rose nodded.  Within minutes Pearl was following the striped van through the city, sticking like glue.  After about a good half an hour they arrived at a medium sized building with a decent sized parking lot.  Only a few other cars were there.  The dancer and track athlete followed behind Rose as the woman stepped into the main lobby.  Rose addressed the smaller woman at the front desk while Amethyst was scanning the area, clutching Garnet’s duffle bag close to her body.

            “You will need to sign in and then we can see if you can go back to see her,” the woman said as she slid a clipboard towards Rose.

            Amethyst bolted for the double wooden doors leading into the rest of the building.

            “Amethyst,” Pearl harshly whispered as she ran after her.

            “Hey! Stop you two!” the woman called out.

            The shorter teen crashed through the doors, nearly breaking one of them off of the hinges as she pushed through the lock holding them closed.  Amethyst kept running, quickly scanning hallways, looking for her friend.  Pearl ran through the opening and jogged alongside her.

            “They got her locked up somewhere in here and I’m not waiting to see if they’ll ‘let’ me see her,” Amethyst shouted over her shoulder.

            The pale teen quickly glanced at an emergency escape route.  Taking note of the size of the rooms and nearby labels.

            “This way!” Pearl grabbed Amethyst and redirected her.

            Sounds of pursuit could be heard.  Rose could be heard calling out for them to stop.  The dancer’s heart pounded in her chest, matching the pace of her now sprinting feet.  They passed a series of offices as they made their way towards the temporary living provisions.

            “She just had surgery, she needs to be taking her medications!” came a firm voice.

            The platinum blonde pushed open one door to just see a series of empty beds.  A low growl escaped her throat.  Another door was opened to reveal another set of empty beds.  The last door was pushed open and Amethyst paused.  There laying curled up and facing away from the door on the second closest bed lay a familiar body and afro.  The short teen turned to Pearl.

            “Guard the door.”

            With that she dashed over.

            “Wha-” Pearl frowned and then shut the door behind her, standing ready for whomever would come through the door.  She couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder.  Amethyst was speaking softly to Garnet and rubbing her shoulder.  Garnet was only in a white t-shirt and red and blue themed plaid flannel, pajama pants.  The door began to open, but Pearl shoved back on it with surprising force, effectively closing it.  They tried to open it and Pearl pushed back as hard as she could.

            “Amethyst?  Pearl?”  Came Rose’s voice.  “Please let us in.”

            The dancer looked back over her shoulder, seeing if Amethyst said it was ok, or not.  Amethyst was busy, now hugging Garnet as she had moved to a sitting position.  Due to her lack of focus on the door, it was gently pushed open.  Pearl tried to redouble her efforts, but soon eased off the pressure as she saw Rose’s face appear as the one opening the door.  The dancer stepped back to let the small group of adults enter the room, however she planted herself between them and Garnet’s bed.  Challenging them to cross her with a fiery glare.  Rose, a female doctor, and two CPS representatives walked in.

            “Please calm down,” Rose gently said putting her hands up.  “There was just a bit of a miscommunication.  We’re going to fix that.”

            Pearl didn’t lower her guard.

            “Go ahead and see your friend,” Rose said after a couple of tense moments.  “We will stay right here.”

            “She doesn’t have permission to be here!  Neither of them do!” the CPS worker protested.

            Rose shot the woman a stern glance; then turned and smiled at Pearl, motioning for her to go.

            “Garnet was not supposed to be treated like this,” Rose stated.  “We were very clear on the situation and how best to handle it.”

            Pearl quickly walked over to her two friends.  Her first thought when she saw Garnet’s face was that the room was far too bright for her to not have her sunglasses on.  Fresh trails of tears could be seen on her square cheeks.  Amethyst was hugging Garnet and whispering into her ear.  Pearl leaned forward and wrapped them both in a hug, her face resting against the other side of the dark teen’s face.

            “Pearl?” came Garnet’s low, sad, voice.

            “Yes.  We’re here Garnet, you’re not alone,” she whispered.

            A frim kiss was pressed into her neck.  “Thank you.”

            The whole situation just made Pearl smack her forehead with her hand.  Rose and Dr. Maheswaran had filed the detailed report on Jaune’s abuse and neglect of Garnet, yet the file was apparently not read all the way through, or at least paid adequate attention to.  CPS had enlisted the police’s help to remove and contain Jaune, which was appropriate, but Garnet was not to be forced into CPS’s custody or handled roughly.  Thankfully the teen hadn’t been hurt by CPS, but she had been in severe pain due to not having her pain medication or sunglasses.  Both her sunglasses and phone had been taken away for her being "uncooperative and aggressive".  Dr. Maheswaran harshly lectured them for not noticing that the sunglasses were medically prescribed and that they had been warned that Garnet would resist their intervention.  As for Garnet not being at school, that was simply Garnet refusing to go in her pjs and without shoes or school supplies.  It didn’t take long to get everything sorted out.  The black duffle bag Amethyst packed had everything Garnet needed; medication, clothes, shoes, school supplies, phone charger, house and car keys, etc.  CPS apologized profusely and promised that they would make up for their lack of appropriate action.  Garnet simply stood to her full height, gave them a look of contempt with her uncovered eyes, then turned and sat on her bed.  Pearl and Amethyst stayed with Garnet until Rose came to collect them.  They both promised they would come visit tomorrow and that they would raise hell if she wasn’t at school again.  The dark teen finally smiled and pulled them both in for a firm hug; thanking both of them.  As they walked towards their cars Amethyst spoke up,

            “So what’s gonna happen with G?”

            Rose and Dr. Maheswaran shared a look.

            “Garnet will be placed with a foster home until she is eighteen, once she is of age she can return to her house and live there.  Right now they are looking into eligible families that will want to take her, but there are few.  As of now the best option is a family in Seacoast.”

            “WHAT?!” Amethyst shouted.  “But that’s like an hour and a half away!”

            Rose gave her a stern look for interrupting her.  The short teen muttered an apology.

            “It hasn’t been decided yet, they are letting her stay here until the end of this school year, but if a closer family isn’t found, then yes she will be most likely moved to there.  But that should be the last thing you two are to be worried about.  I want you two to keep being a support for Garnet.  There’s going to be a trial soon and it’s going to be hard on her.”

            The platinum blonde grumbled and folded her arms.

            “Thank you Rose for showing us where Garnet was.  We really appreciate it.  We’ll do our best to help Garnet out,” Pearl spoke for the two of them.

            Rose smiled.  “Thank you Amethyst for bringing Garnet’s things, you were a big help.”

            That got a smile out of the sullen teen.  “Yeah, well it was P’s idea.”

            Pearl put her hand on Amethyst’s shoulder.  “But you knew what she needed.”

            “Whatever, I just want to make sure my homie is taken care of that’s all.”

            They all said good-bye to each other before heading out.  Pearl sighed as she drove towards Amethyst’s house, her mind buzzing with what had happened that day.  Light blue eyes glanced at the time.  8:09pm.  Another sigh, it had been a long day.  The platinum blonde bade her farewell and thanked her for the ride as she ran up to her house.  Pearl drove home quietly wondering where Garnet was going to end up once school was over.  She hoped that maybe there would be a family nearby that would welcome the dark teen in for the short few months.  The idea of Garnet moving away was not a welcomed one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst is great in this chapter, I love her.
> 
> Also there is some subtle racial profiling done in this chapter in how CPS treated Garnet. This isn't a theme I've really focused on in my story but there has been one other instance in where Ruby and Sapphire's original house loaners kicked them out as soon as they could find any reason to get rid of them. How I've imagined CPS's reaction when they read the report was that Jaune needed to be arrested and that Garnet, a black, teenager with fighting skills and "anger" issues needed to be contained and watched over. So yeah, just a small background explanation for CPS's actions. Seriously CPS read through the WHOLE report next time...


	33. Making it Official

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder /*** and ***\ will be placed around segments for people to skip if they don't want to read some mild sensual stuff.

^^^^^^

Amethyst rallies her friends to try and find a closer place for Garnet to stay at.

^^^^^^

 

            Metal bars slid against the metal track as the cell door was opened.

            “You have a visitor,” one of the officers spoke as a figure walked into Jaune’s cell.

            The blonde didn’t bother to look up from where she was sitting leaning forward and staring at the floor.  One glance at the white shoes and white slacks told her everything she needed to know about her visitor.

            “You can leave us now,” came the firm, yet slightly sweet voice.

            “Yes Senator, we will come get you in fifteen minutes.”

            The cell door was closed and locked with the same grating noise.  Once the footsteps from the cop faded away Yellow Diamond sat up to look at her visitor.

            “What a tangled mess you’ve woven yourself into,” White smirked.

            “Come to gloat?” Yellow Diamond scowled.

            “Oh c’mon, despite our differences, you are my friend.”

            The younger of the two scoffed.

            “I’m here to offer you my help.”

            “And what would that be?”

            “I know the judge that will be over your case, as well as numerous connections that can help influence how the whole trial goes.”

            “What would you want in return?” Yellow Diamond stared at the floor again; resting her forearms on her thighs.  Her suit had seen better days, maybe she could contact Ms. Pearl and have her bring her a change of clothes or something.

            “Why do you think I would want something in return?” White said with pretend innocence.

            “Because I know you.”

            White chuckled.  “I’ll let you know what I want when the time comes.”

            The cell was quiet for a few moments as Yellow Diamond pondered White Diamond’s intentions.

            “You can’t have her,” Yellow Diamond stated firmly.

            “Who?”

            “You know who I’m talking about, the whole reason why I’m here in the first place.”

            White finally dropped her act.  “When she fights again, she will only be allowed to fight for me.  You lied about her age in the forms.  Even I have to draw a line somewhere.”

            “That’s only if I accept your help,” the blonde sat straight up.  “And I am not.”

            “You’re that sure of yourself?” White scoffed.  “I know this area, just like you know business.”

            “And I know that you can’t afford to have me tied up and unavailable for several years,” Yellow Diamond fired back.

            The senator pursed her lips, her face looking like she had swallowed too much lemon juice.

            “Without me you know your investment will eventually fall to the waste it was over twenty years ago.  You can’t afford that.  You also can’t afford the public to get wind of this or for my connections to the ring to be brought to the surface.”

            White’s face became even more sour.

            “I have my own resources to use, and my own leverage to pull.  You can help or you can watch as what you’ve worked so hard for slowly fall to ruin with me.”

            “That is true…” White conceded.  “You do provide a wide range of services of security and stability that cannot be replaced.  Fine then.  Since you helped save my investment, I will help you save yours.  However, much will need to be discussed if she is ever to return to the ring,” the older woman finished as she stood to call to be released.

            “I think you have little to say in that department, you’re also at fault for her condition,” Yellow Diamond growled.

            “Whatever do you mean by that?”

            “Don’t play dumb with me, White.  I know it was you who bribed Jaw Breaker and had the ring arrangements just so.”

            “You can’t prove that.”

            “I don’t need to, Blue confirmed my suspicions.”

            White made a tsk with her tongue.  “Blue needs to remember who the head is sometimes.”

            “Don’t push off that responsibility.  You share a partial blame for this tangled mess.”

            “That doctor of yours wasn’t going to keep quiet forever, you know that.”

            Yellow Diamond didn’t respond.

            “Any way, I’ll see what I can do to help you.  And you better make sure your strategy works, otherwise I’ll take matters into my own hands.”

            “It will.”

            Light hazel eyes stared into grey ones for a long moment.

            “Good.”

            White Diamond called for the guard to open the cell.  She promised to keep her informed and bade farewell as the door was slid open once again.  In a matter of seconds Jaune was left with only herself for company.

 

            After everything was sorted out at the CPS building on Monday, Garnet did indeed make it back to school the next day.  There was a slight change in the usual dynamic in the days that followed.  Instead of spending most of her time at her house, Garnet would now spend her time at one of her friend’s houses, usually Amethyst’s, until she was pulled back to her temporary living situation.  The dark teen was not fond of the new set of rules she now had to abide by, not only informing her caretakers of where she would be at all times, but also sticking to a curfew.  Regardless of the sudden changes, Pearl was glad that things were slowly calming down, and that Garnet was recovering steadily both emotionally and physically.

            The dancer wasn’t sure if they were still going out on Friday, but the dark teen assured her that she had no intentions of not enjoying the evening with her.  Garnet arrived right at six o’clock to pick Pearl up, endured the usual question and answer session with Mrs. and Mr. Tancerz, and then left with a smile on her face as she walked hand in hand with Pearl.  Much to pale teen’s surprise and enjoyment, the restaurant Garnet had chosen for the night was a hole in the wall vegetarian place.  The food was delicious; Pearl made a note of the location.  It was a place she would definitely enjoy eating at again.  With dinner over, Garnet drove to the park where they shared their first kiss at.  In the fading sunset the two walked and occasionally danced around the concrete path.

            Low laughter escaped the taller teen’s lips as she slowly flopped back onto one of the park benches offset from the path; long arms stretched across the back of the bench.  A lithe figure joined her, leaning into her good side and resting her head on her shoulder.  Automatically the arm on the same side wrapped around and held her close.  Laughter died out as the two stared out to admire the rich reds and deep purples that decorated the sky.  Garnet turned to look at Pearl for a moment before kissing her on the temple through her thin hair.  The dancer cupped her jaw and pulled her in for a firm kiss on the lips, smiling into it.  As Pearl pulled away, she let her hand trail down to play with the second button on the dark teen’s purple blouse; the first button had been undone by its wearer soon after they finished dinner.  The two enjoyed simply listening to the sounds of the park and the nighttime city.  Long fingers traced around the small, plastic button in random patterns, occasionally pushing on it or pulling on the fabric it held closed.  A covered eyebrow was raised at her.  Pearl looked away and blushed.

            “Is there something you’d like to tell me Pearl?” Garnet teased.

            “N-nothing!” she squeaked, hands jerking in response to her stutter only to undo the second button.

            “Are you sure?” she whispered into the pale teen’s ear, her hot breath tickling Pearl and sending shivers down her spine.

            “I, I did not intend to do that!  I’ll fix it right away,” Pearl scrambled, reaching for Garnet’s shirt.

            Strong hands caught her wrists easily and held them still.  A kind smile played on thick lips.

            “I know,” Garnet chuckled.  “Don’t worry, I was getting pretty hot anyways.”

            “Oh…” Pearl could feel her face flaming from embarrassment.

            “You’re cute when you blush.”

            /***The dancer hid her face in the crook of the curly haired teen’s neck; low chuckles continued to rumble from the chest close to her ear.  A touch of bare skin against her cheek caught Pearl’s attention.  A devious smile formed, she knew just how to pay Garnet back.  Low chuckles quickly died off as soft bites and feather light kisses traced the curve of the dark teen’s neck and came to the edge of her sharp jaw.  Pearl slid her hand across Garnet’s other collarbone, taking full advantage of the shirt’s wider neckline due to the two unbuttoned buttons.  She could feel the dark teen’s breath hitch.  Pearl placed a kiss at the base of her jaw and sucked lightly before she boldly ran her tongue along Garnet’s ear lobe.  Strong hands pushed on her hips and easily shifted her so she was straddling wide hips and powerful thighs.  The red head turned and pressed their lips together in a teasing kiss, briefly pulling away whenever the other tried to engage further.  Her left hand slid up to pull Garnet’s sunglasses off.  Pearl leaned back to admire her handy work.  Blue and hazel eyes stared back at her with blown out pupils, black curls fell away from her angular face, full lips were parted as heavy breaths escaped them, beautiful dark skin was exposed all the way down to the beginning of generous peaks that laid hidden beneath two layers of fabric.  The pale teen ran her thumbs along Garnet’s neck, feeling her pulse racing underneath her finger tips.  She gently held Garnet’s face before leaning in to capture her lips in a heated kiss.  Fireworks lit up her mind.  Large hands pulled her flush against the front of Garnet’s body, fingertips pressing into her waistline and hips.  Pearl wrapped her arms around the curly haired teen’s head and tilted her head as the two continued.  Swollen lips were pulled apart only for a moment as they gasped for air before they crashed back together.  A third button came undone.  Dark hands poked under the pale teen’s shirt, lighting her skin on fire wherever they slowly roamed along her sides and lower back.  Only one thought could make it through Pearl’s mind at the moment and that was that she didn’t want to stop.  She wanted all of the annoying barriers to be removed.  Pearl leaned back and stared at Garnet though half-lidded eyes.  Her fingers slowly began to roam down, taking in the feeling of the dark teen’s soft, smooth, hot skin.  A fourth button came undone.  Garnet’s chest heaved under her hands.  The curly haired teen pushed forward and attached her lips onto Pearl’s neck, sucking and biting just hard enough to make a mark.  A soft moan slipped past her thin lips as her mind shut down and her body pulsed along to the sensation; hips rolling forward slightly.  Full lips moved down to suck on her collarbone, finding a sensitive spot right at the base of her neck.***\

            Steady vibrations pushed against the inside of the pale teen’s left leg.  She shifted her leg away from it, whoever was calling or texting could wait.  Pearl pulled Garnet’s face up to look her in the eyes briefly before kissing her.  The curly haired teen broke the kiss moments later and rested her forehead against the pale teen’s sternum, a low growl escaping her throat.  Pearl looked down puzzled.  Why was Garnet stopping?  Her clouded head slowly cleared as she realized the vibrations from Garnet’s phone were still going.

            “Who is calling?” she asked, annoyed and confused.

            “It’s an alarm,” Garnet groaned.  “For my curfew…”

            “Curfew?  It’s not even ten yet! And it’s a Friday.”

            “That’s what I said, but they wouldn’t budge.”

            The curly haired teen pulled out the device and stopped the alarm.  9:50pm.  She then sat back against the bench, removing her hands and smoothing out Pearl’s shirt.  The dancer looked down at her crush’s equally disheveled appearance.  She allowed herself one more moment to admire before buttoning up Garnet’s purple blouse.  They looked at each other for a second before giggling.

            “That was…” Pearl tried, a blush covering her cheeks.  “Fun,” she ended with a short laugh.

            Garnet hummed in agreement.  Cool air drifted between them, contrasting with the heat radiating off of their skin.

            “Pearl,” the curly haired teen started after a few moments of silence.  “There’s been something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.”

            “What?” the dancer tilted her head to the side.

            Garnet looked away and pursed her lips.  “We’ve been going on dates for a few months now, and…well…I was wondering if you’d like to make this more official.”

            Pearl waited for her to completely explain what she meant by that.

            “I want to date you, just you.  Not that I have been seeing anyone else I haven’t, I don’t want to.  I would like to be your girlfriend, and you could be mine.”

            The pale teen stared for a few seconds as her mind processed what Garnet was asking her.  She pressed their lips together firmly.

            “Yes.  A million times, yes,” she whispered against her lips.

            Garnet smiled and returned the kiss with vigor.  Steady vibrations interrupted them yet again only seconds later.  They parted a little easier this time, the dark teen scowling at the device.

            “I hate curfews.”

            Pearl laughed.  “Now you know what it’s like for the rest of us.”

            The dark teen laughed in spite of herself.  The dancer slid off Garnet’s legs as she stood up.  They walked hand in hand back towards the taller teen’s car.  A quick kiss was shared at the door as Pearl’s new girlfriend wished her goodnight.  The red head blushed and watched Garnet drive away; she walked into her house grinning from ear to ear.

 

            “I have gathered you all here for a very important mission,” Amethyst began as she addressed her group of friends looking at each one in turn.

            Pearl was confused, Peridot was intrigued, Lapis was resting her head on the table, Jasper just frowned.

            “Since when did my house become the de facto meeting place?” she grumbled.

            “Ever since our group got bigger and there weren’t enough chairs at my dining table,” Lapis mumbled from her position.

            “Focus!” Amethyst called back their attention.  “I need all of your help.”

            “For what?” Peridot broke the silence.

            “We’ve got just under two weeks before Garnet gets shipped off to Seacoast to live with some random foster family!” She placed her hands on the table and leaned forward in an attempt to engage her friends in the cause.  “We gotta find a place she can stay at until she turns eighteen.”

            “What is so bad about her moving to Seacoast for a few months?” Jasper grumbled resting her chin in her hand.

            The shorter teen rounded on the buff teen.  “You of all people should understand why the most.”

            Jasper raised an eyebrow.

            “Basketball!  Do you seriously want G playing for Seacoast?  We’d have to play against her,” Amethyst threw her arms up into the air.

            “Oh c’mon she wouldn’t do that, I’m sure they would let her still go here,” the buff teen shrugged.

            “Not likely,” Pearl piped up.  “It’s an hour and a half drive from the foster home to our city, not even to the high school.  CPS would just have her transferred to the nearest high school to make things easier.”

            “So she just doesn’t play basketball her senior year then,” Peridot solved.

            “No way.” Amethyst stated.  “She’s got a scholarship for sure coming, I don’t care how much money she might have, she has to play her last year.  How would you feel if someone barred you from your computer next year?”

            Peridot’s eyes widened and she slowly hugged the device casting a glare at Amethyst over her screen.

            “Look,” Amethyst tried in a calmer voice.  “We’re all G-man’s friends, we would miss having her around.  I would take her in in a heartbeat, but we don’t have room in my house for her and I don’t think Pearl would like the idea of us sharing a bed,” she added with a slight tease.

            Pearl’s cheeks flushed, but she didn’t object.

            “What about you, Lapis?  Got an extra bed?”

            “No can do, single parent,” Lapis evenly stated.

            “Damn…CPS wouldn’t like that,” the platinum blonde frowned.  “Peridot?”

            “My room is already too small for me and my younger sister, there’s no room at my place either.”

            “Pearl?”

            “Conflict of interest, plus there’s no way my parents would be ok with that, especially since we’ve been dating.”

            “That’s right.  Jasper?” she tried weakly.

            The buff teen huffed.  “I’m not exactly best friends with Garnet, we get along, but that’s because we’re on the same team.”

            “You guys are killing me!” Amethyst groaned.  “That’s ok, just try and brainstorm some ideas of who Garnet could live with.  Who does Garnet know that lives nearby and wouldn’t mind her staying?”

            “What about Rose or Dr. Maheswaran?” Pearl suggested.

            The platinum blonde considered those options for a couple of seconds.  “I don’t know; CPS probably has some rule against those reporting the abuse to take in the child.  But it’s worth a shot.  Do we have any way to contact them?”

            “I can speak with Rose on Monday, but as for Dr. Maheswaran I have no idea how to contact her.”

            “It’s a start,” the short teen tapped her chin.

            Jasper leaned back into her chair with her arms folded as she passively watched Amethyst, Pearl, and sometimes Peridot throw around ideas.  Her family had room, she had two parents, she knew Garnet well enough, she would be an ideal option.  However, she wasn’t sure if Garnet would be onboard with the idea.  The emergency meeting didn’t last much longer before Pearl had to leave.  Jasper then played some video games with everyone else for a couple of hours before they all went their separate ways.  Light hazel eyes glanced at the new picture posted on the wall.  It was the one taken as a team right after their win in the state championship.  She knew Garnet would play her last year no matter what; she hated and loved the idea of playing against her.

            “So Jasper,” Mr. Ganeva started at the dinner table where the three of them sat.  “I couldn’t help but overhearing some of the things going on with Garnet and her being moved to Seacoast.”

            “What about it?” Jasper shrugged.

            Mr. Ganeva shared a glance with his wife.

            “Your mother and I talked about it briefly.  The office can be easily converted into a small room for a few months.  But we wouldn’t want to offer anything if you and your brother were not comfortable with having someone else living here.”

            “So why bring it up while my little bro is at his friend’s house?”

            “We wanted to speak to you about it first, you are Garnet’s teammate and friend,” Jasper’s Mom spoke up.  “If you didn’t want to then we wouldn’t worry about asking Trent.”

            The buff teen stared down at her salad and poked her grilled chicken with her knife.  “I don’t know how I’d feel about it.  Would Garnet even want to live in the same place as me?”

            “Do you two not get along?”

            “We do, just we don’t interact much more than trying one up each other.  We never help each other out, why would she be welcoming of our offer?”

            “A valid concern, but it’s not completely true that you two never help each other,” her father interjected.  “You both help each other out on the court all the time.”

            Jasper grimaced slightly.  “I guess so…”

            “Look, we aren’t going to pressure you into it if you don’t want to, but if you were hesitant because you weren’t sure how we would feel, we wanted to let you know that we would be supportive of housing Garnet.”

            The buff teen wordlessly nodded.  Her parents moved onto another conversation as she continued to stew over the situation.

            “If Garnet moves to Seacoast and transfers high schools; then her captain spot will be up for grabs,” Jasper slowly stated towards the end of dinner.

            “It would be,” Mr. Ganeva nodded.

            “I could be one of the ones to claim it, between Amethyst and I, I’m sure I could out do her.”

            “Is that what you want though?”

            “What do you mean?” Jasper narrowed her eyes.

            “To get the captain spot without having to fight Garnet for it?  Granted that’s a nice thing to have for college applications, especially sports, being a team captain for such a high ranked team.  However, what would be more satisfying?  Becoming the captain while Garnet is at Seacoast or becoming the captain while Garnet was still at Copper Cove?” Mr. Ganeva challenged.

            The buff teen puffed out her chest and sat up straight.  She knew instantly the answer to that question.  It would feel cheap to have become the captain while Garnet was no longer a competitor for the position, but to be able to outperform her while she was there, that would be a true testament of her superiority.

            “It’s obvious, I want to beat her.  I can’t do that if she’s gone.”

            Her Dad smirked and nodded his head.  “Now think about actually living with her and how you would feel about it.  You would have to share a bathroom with her, share cleaning responsibilities, and get along.  I think it would be a good learning experience, Garnet is used to living alone so this would be a challenge for her, and you could learn a thing or two from her on a number of topics.  From what you’ve told me she’s a fairly good boxer too.”

            “Think it over and let us know,” her mother smiled.  “If you’re not 100% onboard then we won’t do it.”

            “Yeah I’ll let you know, thanks, you two are very generous to think of that.”

            “It was your father’s idea,” Mrs. Ganeva smiled as she rubbed her husband’s back.  “He’s very generous and kind hearted, some of the reasons why I married him.”

            Jasper made a face as her two parents kissed.  “Ok! Ok! I got it!”

            The two adults just laughed.

            With both of her parents willing to house Garnet, Jasper didn’t see a reason why not to make the offer to the silent teen.  It was hard for her to mentally see Garnet willingly accepting the offer, but she had no control of that.  Garnet could accept or refuse, that was her choice, just like it was her choice to offer Garnet a place to stay.  Jasper spoke with her parents the next day and they in turn asked her younger brother how he felt about the potential temporary roommate.  The ten-year old was familiar with Garnet and reacted positively to the possibility.  He often came to their basketball games and had always admired her skill.  By the end of the day he already had several ideas on the things he could teach Garnet or games he could play with her and Jasper together.  With both of their children in agreement, Mr. and Mrs. Ganeva began the process of working with CPS to be listed as an eligible place for Garnet to stay.  Jasper smiled, it felt good.  She didn’t want to say anything yet to anyone, but she hoped that her family’s offer would be received well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fun chapter, give you all a break from the drama, for a moment. Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Also, I am looking for a potential volunteer to be a beta reader for my Bad Pearl/Officer Garnet story. It would have to be someone I can send messages to privately, like through tumblr or something, and they would be willing to read upcoming chapters, provide lots of feedback, be ok with some spoilerish brainstorming, and be serious about helping me proof my work. They also need to be comfortable with reading content such as mild gore and some smut. Send me a message via tumblr (http://thetruthampere.tumblr.com/) if you are interested!
> 
> I have my beta readers now, so I'm closing this offer. I look forward to working with them and giving all of you amazing readers a good story :)
> 
> Thanks! You all are awesome!


	34. The Definition of "Family"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Buckle up for another chapter! I'll release this one today and the last chapter will be posted on the usual Sunday. Enjoy!

^^^^^^

Garnet and Jaune face the verdict of the trial.

^^^^^^

 

            On Thursday Pearl, along with Amethyst, Peridot, Lapis, Jasper, their available parents, Dr. Maheswaran, and Rose entered the courthouse to witness Jaune Simmons's trial.  The atmosphere was tense as each of the varying parties entered one at a time.  The jury filed in, then the Defense Attorney and Garnet moved into the right side seating in front of the judge.  Garnet wore a black suit and an emotionless face, she looked years older than the age she really was.  Next came a familiar looking tall woman with short blonde hair being escorted by two officers.  Amethyst leaned over to her and whispered that the woman was Jaune.  Pearl nodded, she slightly recognized her from the few pictures she had seen.  Despite the handcuffs and orange jump suit, the woman had a powerful aura around her.  Jaune’s sharp expression only seemed to soften when she glanced in Garnet’s direction.  The officers and lawyers for her took the left side seating.  Lastly they all stood as the judge entered.  At the judge’s command the DA took the floor explaining the whole case and why they were here.  The information was a repetition of what Pearl had already knew, but with several differences.  There was absolutely no mention of The Ember Colosseum, Jaune being Yellow Diamond, or Garnet being the fighter Fusion.  Pearl glanced at Rose and Dr. Maheswaran, both of them seemed to have noticed the lack of crucial details.  The dancer frowned, that information could easily change the severity of the punishment given to Jaune.  Despite the lacking information, the charges were still the same; physical and emotional abuse, along with prolonged abandonment and neglect.  The DA went on how Jaune was unfit to be Garnet’s guardian and how she should be locked up to prevent her from hurting Garnet or anyone else in a similar manner.  Jaune was the first witness called up by the DA.  When presented with the evidence Jaune stated that she was guilty of all charges, her face downcast and somber.  The DA was pleasantly surprised by the fast confession.

            Standing tall with the now easy case, the DA then called Garnet up to the stand as his next witness.  The dark teen slowly made her way to the spot and sat down.  The DA then asked her tell them how Jaune had treated her over the past couple of years.   He asked if Jaune’s confession was true and that she was indeed the one who had abused her.  Garnet’s body tensed and her hands curled into fists.  She fell silent, refusing to give any answer for several painstaking minutes.  Eventually, a couple of words came out.

            “I don’t want this,” her low voice could barely be heard.

            Shock ran across the jury’s and DA’s faces.

            “Not this trial, not anything.  I want to work out things with Jaune on my own terms.  I want her to get the help she needs.  Not to be just locked up and isolated.”

            With that she stood up and returned to her seat, not even bothering to ask permission to do so.  They watched her, the courthouse unnaturally still.

            The judge then asked if the DA had anymore witnesses to call, the man shook his head and made one final statement to the jury on Jaune’s treatment and her open confession.  He pleaded with them to let justice be served.  She must be punished for her crimes.

            Next Jaune’s lawyer took the floor.  He called no witnesses and made to attempt to fight the accusations.  However, he did point out that locking up the CEO for a large successful company was an unwise move.  If her company would fail, thousands would be jobless, the state would lose considerable tax revenue, and the economic benefits from the company purchasing and providing services would disappear.  He pushed for a different type of punishment than the standard prison with limited communication to the outside world.  A place where she would have to stay and be monitored, but would have all the access she needed to continue to run her business.  House arrest.  Once Jaune’s lawyer finished his reasoning the judge adjourned the meeting for two hours so the jury could discuss the evidence presented to them.  Everyone but the audience left to their respective places.

            Idle chit chat floated between the friends as they tried to pass the time.  Something else caught Pearl’s attention.  Despite Jaune being a high profile individual, not a single news person was around.  No photographers, no journalists, no news anchors.  The trial was somehow being kept quiet from the public.  She looked around and another person caught her attention.  Sitting in the back on Garnet’s side was a tall dark woman wearing a midnight blue covering over her head.  Pearl frowned, she asked Amethyst who that might be but the short teen had no idea either.  One other woman was sitting next to the woman with the head covering, a thin tan woman with short hair that covered most of her face.  From how the lighting was in the court house Pearl wasn’t sure if the blue highlights in the thin woman’s hair were real or an illusion.  In just over an hour all of the parties retook their seats.  The dancer’s attention was pulled to the front.

            The judge stood and delivered the sentence that was to be carried out.  Jaune’s guardianship was permanently revoked and she was to serve five years of house arrest with two years of probation.  Along with the house arrest, a five year restraining order was placed on her for Garnet’s protection.  At the announcement of this Garnet burst out with a loud “NO!”, jumping out of her seat.  The judge paused for a moment before finishing the sentence.  The DA and accompanying officer tried to get Garnet to sit back down, but she refused.  A firm bang rang throughout courthouse as the gavel was struck to signal finality of the sentence.

 

            Sharp soundwaves vibrated inside of Garnet’s skull as the gavel connected with the round disc of hard wood.  She turned and made to walk to Jaune, a firm hand grabbed her arm.  The officers surrounding Jaune stood her up and began to escort her out of the room.

            _No._

            Garnet effortlessly broke the hold and pressed forward.  An officer stepped in front of her holding his hands up and his mouth moving, but she didn’t hear anything he said.  Jaune glanced over her shoulder, their eyes meeting for a brief moment; the woman giving her a final sad smile.  Garnet tried to push past the officer in front of her, but her arm was captured again and she was lightly pulled back.  She resisted, reaching out towards her disappearing family.  Pain raced up from her side as the grip pulled back stronger.  The dark teen turned back briefly and quickly broke the grip, only to look back and see a closed door and an empty seating area.  Jaune was gone.  She stood there in shock, her mouth hanging open slightly.  Two sets of hands grabbed her arms again, intending to keep her there in case she decided to run after the convicted woman.  There was no point to fight back now, it was too late, her family was gone.  Gone.  Just like before.

            People spoke, she was offered a water bottle, she saw familiar faces, but nothing registered in her mind.  Before she knew it she was standing in the master bedroom of her house staring at the bed.  She was still in her suit and she hadn’t even taken off her shoes.  A wet sensation ran down her cheeks.  She was crying?  Her body felt numb, her face was frozen in place, and no identifiable emotion was present in her mind.  Covered eyes looked around at the still bedroom.  Was this how it was always going to be?  Empty rooms?  A house of solitude?  Gaining family only to have it ripped from you?  A life of loneliness?

            Thin fingers intertwined with hers, shocking her hands into feeling the coolness of the person’s skin.  A warm sturdy arm was wrapped around her hips and a head was pressed against her good side.  Wide eyes glanced down to see Amethyst gazing up at her, eyebrows pulled together with concern.  She turned to the other side to meet Pearl’s worried, light blue eyes.

            “They’re gone,” Garnet whimpered.  “They’re all gone!”

            Arms wrapped around her, holding her close.

            “WHY?!  WHY DOES EVERYONE LEAVE?!”

            Amethyst and Pearl only held onto her tighter.

            “Why?” the dark teen sobbed, her legs giving out.  She instinctively wrapped her arms around her two friends, using them for support to keep standing.  Slowly they eased her to the floor, all three of them kneeling down together.  It hurt to cry.  She hated how she could feel her eyes becoming puffy and snot running down her chin, mixing in with her salty tears.  She hated the hole she felt in her chest knowing that her family was no more.  She was all that was left.  She was left alone.

            “You’re not alone, Garnet,” Pearl whispered in her ear.

            “You have us,” Amethyst added.  “And we’re not leaving you, not ever.”

            “We won’t,” Pearl agreed.

            “You’re my family G.”

            “We’re your family.”

            Before she could even protest she felt both of her friends shake their heads.

            “Family is whoever you want it to be, it doesn’t have to be determined by blood or law.  Your family is who your heart decides it to be,” Pearl spoke as she laid her hand over Garnet’s heart.

            “And we want to be your family, G.  Well we’ve always been, but now it’s official.”

            Garnet pulled them close, hugging them with all the strength she had.  The ache in her chest slowly lessened as Pearl and Amethyst continued to hold her as she cried.  It didn’t go away, but it didn’t hurt as much.  As her sobs died down a tissue was offered to her by Amethyst.  She took the offered item and cleaned off her face, blowing her nose for the final measure.

            “Thank you.”  She pressed a kiss to Amethyst’s forehead, then turned to do the same to Pearl.  “I love you both.”

            “We love you,” Amethyst and Pearl said in unison as they were brought in for another hug.

            Garnet let out a deep sigh as she released them and stood up.  She rubbed the back of her neck.

            “How’d I get here?”

            “Pearl drove us, everyone else followed,” the shortest teen supplied.

            “Everyone else?”

            “Yeah, they’re all in the living room, we didn’t know exactly what to do after the trial.  A lot of people came to support you.”

            “Oh…”  Garnet rolled back her shoulders and took a clearing breath.  “I should go thank them then for their kindness.”

            As Garnet walked, Pearl and Amethyst stayed by her sides, not too far away and not too close.  Her covered and composed face glanced around the room at all of the formally dressed individuals.  Amethyst’s mother Maria was speaking with Pearl’s parents.  Lapis and Peridot were sitting silently on the couch with Jasper hovering nearby.  Rose, Dr. Maheswaran, and Jasper’s parents spoke in low voices in another corner.  They all turned to face her when she came into view.  Garnet stepped away from her her best friend and girlfriend, immediately missing the comfort of being closer to them.

            “Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to support me at the trial today,” she began.  “I apologize for not having anything to offer to you, I could order something really quick-”

            “No need,” Maria spoke up, “We are here just for you.  Each of us has written down our contact information on this sheet.  I know you already have most of this, but we want to be here for you if you need anything.”  The woman handed the piece of paper to her.

            “Thank you, Maria.”

            “Chin up, Garnet, you still have many people who are here who love and care about you.”

            “Thanks.” A weak smile formed on her lips.  “With the trial’s verdict as it is, I will be staying at the CPS building until the end of the school year and then I will be moved into a foster home.  Right now it hasn’t been set in stone, but it looks like I’ll be moving away until I’m eighteen.  I will update people as I know what is going to happen.  Thank you all for your support.”

            One by one each of the individuals in the room said goodbye to Garnet and wished her the best.  The room slowly emptied until it was just Jasper, her parents, Amethyst, and Pearl.  Jasper walked up and Garnet held her hand out for a shake.

            “Look,” Jasper began, scratching her head.  “My family all talked about it and we wanted to know if you’d like to move in with us until you turned eighteen.  We heard that you might end up far away and it would suck to have to transfer schools your last year.”

            Garnet studied Jasper, not sure what she was hearing.

            “We got cleared and everything to be an ‘eligible’ family to house you.  So I don’t know if you’d like to come live with us or not, but just let us know, ok?”

            “You-you’re offering me a place to stay?” She looked over at Jasper’s parents.

            The two adults nodded.

            “At your home?”

            “Yeah,” Jasper shrugged with fake indifference.

            Garnet was speechless for a long moment.  She had not seen this coming at all.  Here she was preparing herself to be rooted up and shoved in a random house for seven months and stuck in a school she didn’t care for far away from everyone that mattered to her.  But here was Jasper and her family graciously opening their house to her.

            “Th-thank you,” the dark teen’s voice broke as she tried to speak.  “Yes, my stars yes.  I’m deeply honored that you would offer that to me.”

            Amethyst grinned behind Garnet and gave Jasper a double thumbs up.  Pearl looked like she was about to cry.

            “You would?” the buff teen thought she heard incorrectly for a moment.

            “Yes.  I would,” Garnet offered a small smile.  “Thank you, Jasper, and especially to both of you Mr. and Mrs. Ganeva, I’m sure CPS put you through a ton of pain.”  The curly haired teen coughed, “I mean paper.”

            Mr. Ganeva bust up laughing, the rich sound lighting up the room.  “It was worth it to make sure a good kid like you didn’t end up in that run down city called Seacoast.  I’ll have you know that while you’re living with us, you obey all house rules, and get ready to learn because I intend to teach you a few skills.  So if you’re not down with that, now is your time to back out.”

            Garnet grinned and folded her arms across her chest.  “Sorry, looks like you are going to be stuck with me for the next seven months.”  Her face turned more serious.  “I will do my best to keep the house rules, sir, but it may take a little adjusting.”

            “That is understandable, but from what we know of you, you’re a fast learner, so it shouldn’t be too much of an adjustment,” Jasper’s mother smiled with a small wink.

            “Thank you,” the dark teen rubbed the back of her neck.  “I’ll be able to move in once school is over, so let me know if there is anything I can help out with.”

            “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got Jasper and my wife, and you’re supposed to be resting those ribs.  We can take care of the arrangements.  We will have to do more ‘pain’ with CPS to make sure they know you’re staying with us,” Mr. Ganeva waved off.

            “Regardless, let me know what I _can_ do to help.”

            “Will do.”

            “Just leave it to us, Garnet!” Jasper grinned as she pulled the smaller teen in for a side hug.

            “Thank you, Jasper,” Garnet quickly gave the larger teen a hug.

            “Alright!” Amethyst exclaimed jumping between them.  “You two are gonna be like sisters now!”

            Both of the tall teenagers made a face and quickly stepped away from each other.

            “No,” they said flatly.

            “So close,” Amethyst snapped her fingers and sent a wink back at Pearl who was wiping away a couple of tears.

            After discussing for a little longer the living arrangements, the Ganeva’s left with a wave.  Garnet waved, now smiling.  She turned and walked over to where Amethyst was heating up some of the frozen food that Jaune had cooked.  She wrapped an arm around her friend’s neck and pulled her in to ruffle her hair.

            “Hey!” the short teen tried to escape.

            “You little sneak, Jasper told me it was all your idea.”

            “Guilty as charged!” Amethyst smirked.

            “Thank you,” Garnet smiled as she hugged her from behind.

            “No problem, I told you I got your back.”

            “Yes you do.”

            Garnet glanced up to see Pearl watching them with a relieved smile on her face.  She released Amethyst and walked over to her girlfriend.  Large hands rested on narrow hips as she pressed a light kiss against the dancer’s lips.

            “Thank you.”

            “For what?” Pearl blushed.

            “For being supportive and having my best interests in mind,” Garnet stated before she kissed her again for a little longer.

            “You’re welcome,” the dancer smiled.

            “Awww get a room!  It’s literally just down the hall!” Amethyst shouted at them, the tease evident in her playful tone.

            “It’s my house, every room is my room,” the dark teen stated lowly as she leaned in again.

            “Wait, Pearl aren’t you like grounded or something?” the platinum blonde narrowed her eyes.

            Light blue eye widened in recollection.  Garnet let her head fall onto Pearl’s shoulder, groaning in frustration.  The dancer’s phone began to vibrate.  She pulled out the device to see who was calling.

            “It’s my father,” she sighed.

            “I swear he hates me,” the curly haired teen muttered.

            “He hates anyone who dates me.”

            “So he does then.”

            “Well…uh…yes, in that sense, he doesn’t hate you he hates that you’re dating me.”  Pearl pressed her fingers against her forehead.  “I have to go, see you at school tomorrow?”

            “Yup!” Amethyst gave her a thumbs up.

            The red head smiled.  “Good, I’ll see you both then.”

            With that she left quickly out the door, answering her phone and informing her father that she was indeed on her way home.  Garnet leaned against the wall and watched Amethyst dance around lightly as she prepared the meal for the two of them.

            _What a day…_

A frown fell onto her face as her mind recalled the judge’s verdict.  Five years.  She would be done with college by the time she ever got to see Jaune again.  Garnet pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled sharply.

            “Hey,” came Amethyst’s voice.  “You gonna eat with me or not?” she demanded as she held Garnet’s plate towards her.

            Thick lips quirked up and a brief smile as she took the plate.  The two enjoyed their dinner and the time together until Garnet had to report back to the CPS building.  Only a few more days left and she would be out of there for good.

 

            The school year ended without any more unwelcome surprises for the group of friends, thankfully.  Peridot placed second in the robot contest, losing to a design that was just a platform with four hydraulic cylinders moving up and down.  She ranted about the lack of mobility, flexibility, and creativity of the design.  However, the glasses wearing teen was awarded the class choice award for the coolest design and received a 100% on the project grade.  In the end she was satisfied with the result.  Garnet moved into Jasper’s house the day after school ended.  There were several bumps in the road as the two teammates butted heads on a few personal habits, but nothing that couldn’t be resolved by talking things out; especially when Jasper’s parents were there to mediate.  The dark teen still had a curfew, but thankfully it was 12 am, the same as Jasper's.  She could now enjoy her dates with Pearl like before without CPS breathing down her neck.  Lapis started her summer time lifeguard job for the local aquatic center.  The swimmer reminded her friends that anyone who faked drowning while she was on duty for a prank was going to see a side of her that she normally reserved for her rivals in water polo.  Amethyst found a job at a hip clothing store within the mall, working hard to save up a good chunk of cash for college.  Peridot took a summer course on coding at the Copper Cover Community College while balancing a job at the popular pizza joint.  Jasper volunteered as a coach for her boxing academy for several summer camps and joined her fellow teammates for the traditional basketball summer camp put on by the high school.  She also drilled, expanded, and honed her basketball skills by herself, and sometimes with Garnet, Amethyst, or both.  Pearl had worked with her shop teacher to get a referral into a nearby, medium sized, manufacturing company.  Mostly she was in charge of keeping the mess of chips to a minimum and running machines already set up with easy to make parts.  Garnet worked on rehabilitating her body once the two months were up and she was allowed to exercise properly again.  Her days were filled with practicing her basketball moves and keeping her fighting skills sharp, usually sparring with a very eager Jasper.  Whenever she did have down time, Mr. Ganeva enlisted her help around the house with various projects he or his wife were working on.  His promise to teach her a few things was well met, especially when he found out that Garnet did not know how to grill.  The outburst when he discovered such a fact was heard miles away.

            Despite all of the good happening in Garnet’s life, it was hard for the teen to not miss her guardian Jaune.  Even though the woman’s title was removed by the court, the curly haired teen refused to accept it.  It was a noticeable hole in how she couldn’t call or text her family.  Garnet could write Jaune to tell her how things had been going in her life, but it seemed pointless when no response could be given.  Granted the two hadn’t kept very good contact in the months prior to the whole disaster, but they had been working towards communicating and interacting more.  Garnet simply held onto the hope that once she was allowed to see and speak with Jaune again that they would be able to mend their bond.  There would also be days where the dark teen would go back to her home and spend her time there; usually cleaning, checking the mail, making sure all bills were taken care of, and that everything was how she had left it.  The Ganeva’s were fine with her doing that, as long as she let them know when she was there and came home before her curfew.  Her tradition of talking to her mothers and leaving notes for them was still kept alive.  In those moments she could feel their love stronger, and the pain of missing them didn’t sting as much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick note about the trial, basically it was just for show. The verdict, everything had already been settled beforehand. Hence the lack of multiple witnesses, light punishment, and no mention of anything involving The Ember Colosseum. Yellow and White Diamond made sure of that.
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter! There is one last short one that will be posted on my usual day!


	35. Looking Forward to New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The last chapter of Champion. Thank you all for reading this and encouraging me through writing it!

^^^^^^

Summer comes to a close and Pearl and Garnet look forward to their senior year.

^^^^^^

 

            Garnet leaned back against the railing surrounding the dock, enjoying the brisk sea breeze ruffling her afro and shirt.  This particular dock had become one of their favorite spots to go to for a date.  The last time Garnet and Pearl were here they had tried catching some fish, a relatively unsuccessful venture until the pale teen snagged one.  In the end Garnet was the one who took the small fry home and bragged about her girlfriend’s awesome fishing skills as she turned it into a light dish to be shared with Jasper and her family.  A small smile formed on her lips as she recalled the memory.

            “What are you smirking about?” Pearl inquired, turning to face her from where she had been staring out into the choppy waves.

            “Oh nothing,” the taller lightly sang.

            The dancer snorted and shoved her playfully.  “Tell me.”

            “I was just recalling the time you caught a fish.”

            “That?  Oh my, that was…interesting.  I still can’t believe you actually ate it.”

            “Why wouldn’t I?  My girlfriend caught it, how else was I going to honor her success?”

            Pearl rolled her eyes and leaned against Garnet; curling more into the dark teen’s leather jacket she had around her narrow shoulders.  They stood there for a while, just enjoying the atmosphere.  A thought occurred to Garnet as she looked down at Pearl, who was silently staring at a flock of seagulls fighting over an abandoned bag of chips.

            “How are you doing, Pearl?” she spoke evenly.

            The dancer turned to look up at her with a puzzled look on her face.  “Quite good, how are you?” she replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear to only have it get blown back into her face.

            “No, like how are you doing?”

            Pearl frowned.  “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”

            Garnet sighed, this had seemed so much easier in her head.  “When all of that stuff was going down with Jaune and my fights, I never thought on how it was affecting you, I was just focused on myself.  Are you ok?”

            Light blue eyes looked in the same direction as hers as the red head turned faced forward again.

            “It was stressful; I’m not going to lie.  I was so worried about you and I felt helpless.  When I started learning what was going on and found Rose as a good confidant, it helped, but then I was faced with the doubts of my accusations being correct or upsetting you by not keeping it confidential.  I still wonder…” she trailed off frowning slightly.  “Never mind, it’s nothing.”

            “You still wonder what?”  Garnet pressed.

            “Oh, you know…”

            “No I don’t.”

            “It’s silly.”

            “I doubt it.”

            “I wonder if you blame me for Jaune being locked up in her house.”

            Garnet was about to speak, but Pearl kept on going.  The dark teen closed her mouth, wanting to hear everything that was going through her girlfriend’s mind.

            “If I hadn’t talked to Rose, your fighting secret, the whole trial, everything, would have never been exposed.  You would still be in your own house and you would be able to see your guardian.  I’m the reason you got tossed around by CPS and separated from Jaune.”

            The curly haired teen shook her head.  “No.” she turned Pearl around so they could face each other.  “If you hadn’t talked to Rose, I would be still under the false notion that what Jaune was doing to me was ok.  Hell, I might even be preparing for my next fight right now.  Why would I be mad at you?  You acted out of genuine concern for my well-being, something Jaune clearly wasn’t doing.”

            Pearl looked away, eyebrows furrowed.

            “Dr. Maheswaran would have reported Jaune sooner or later, Rose being informed by you just ensured that it happened sooner.  And while I may not prefer my current situation, there are much worse things.  Like being in mortal peril.  I am not mad at you, Pearl.  You did the right thing,” Garnet finished as she pulled the shorter teen in for a hug.

            The dancer sighed and leaned in to return the embrace.

            “By definition you did ‘break’ my confidence, but you did it because you saw that I was hurting and you wanted to help.  You weren’t doing it to intentionally get me in trouble or out of spite, you did it because you cared.  The judge is the one who set the verdict on Jaune’s punishment, not you.  Jaune made those choices in regards to me and had to face the consequences.  You had no idea she was involved.”

            “I guess so,” Pearl conceded.

            “Hey,” Garnet spoke after a few moments of silence.

            The dark teen took off her sunglasses and looked down at Pearl, nudging her to look up.

            “Thank you, Pearl, for talking to Rose and for being a support to me all throughout the whole ordeal,” Garnet sincerely stated as she looked her in the eyes.

            “You’re welcome,” Pearl lightly blushed, finally smiling.

            “If you ever doubt your decision again, just remember this,” she said as she took Pearl’s hand and placed it over the scar on her side and then brought it up to trace the thin scar running across half of her forehead.  “I’m doing better because of you.”

            The dancer stood up on her tippy toes and kissed Garnet on the lips.

            “Thank you,” she whispered

            The curly haired teen hugged her close.

            “I love you, Pearl.”

            Garnet felt the smaller teen jump a little with surprise.

            “I love you too, Garnet,” she replied.

 

            Mr. Ganeva enthusiastically twirled the tongs around in his hand and took a deep breath.

            “Ahhh!  That cool crisp air of fall isn’t too far away.  It’s time to make the most of the remaining summer.  And what better way to do that then with a barbeque?” he addressed anyone who was listening.

            Mr. Tancerz grunted slightly as he maneuvered a simple, round, coal grill next to Mr. Ganeva’s large, shiny, propane grill.

            “What’s this?” the large man smirked.  “Coal?  Not a bad choice, but you might want to invest in something more like mine if you’re serious about doing some real grilling.”

            Mr. Tancerz stood up proudly and regarded Mr. Ganeva’s grill with little interest.  “My daughter made this.  I’ve already used it a couple of times, it works fantastically.”

            Jasper’s dad straightened up.  “This was a father’s day present.  Along with this,” he said as he tapped the tongs against the black apron placed over his burly chest.  It read “Grill Dad” in flaming letters.

            “She got a 100% on the project.”

            Mr. Ganeva frowned slightly but didn’t back down.  Garnet watched the two from where she stood with mild interest.  She held Pearl close from behind with her fingers intertwined in front of the thin teen's abdomen; Pearl leaning back into the embrace enjoying the comfort.  For the moment she was thankful that someone was distracting Pearl’s dad so he wasn’t keeping a watch on her every move.  Covered eyes looked up at the trees that were just barely starting to change colors.  In a couple of weeks all of them would be starting their senior year of high school.  A year for college applications, senioritis, last minute memories, and good-byes.

            “Is your dad always this passionate about grilling?” she asked Jasper as she walked by with the meat that had been marinating in preparation for the barbeque.

            “Yes.  Why do you think we got him that fancy grill?  He probably loves it more than his car.”

            Garnet shrugged.  “I knew he liked to grill, but this was a little unexpected.”

            The buff teen shrugged and glanced back at the two fathers who were now engaged in a contest to grill the best dish for the barbeque with their special grills.

            “Hey, as long as it means delicious food for me to eat, he can grill all he wants,” Amethyst grinned as she took a swig from her soda.  “Say Jasper, about how many more times do you think your dad will grill before school starts?”

            Jasper, pondered for a moment.  “Five.”

            “Five?!  Damn, that’s like twice a week.”

            Garnet glanced down at Pearl, who seemed lost in thought.  “How many years were you at your last high school?”

            “Hm?” the light eyed teen looked at up her.  “Oh!  Two.”

            “Your family isn’t planning on moving right?”

            “No, of course not,” Pearl frowned.  “Why would we?”

            Garnet shrugged.

            “I’ll have you know, I lived in my previous home for over ten years.  We don’t move a lot as a family, it just turned out that we moved my junior year.”

            The dark teen hummed.  “And then you made friends with all of the crazy people at this school.”

            Pearl playfully pushed back against Garnet.  “You’re not crazy, just different, which is expected when moving to a new area.”  After a small pause she added.  “Though I didn’t quite anticipate all of the things that happened this year.  It was eventful to say the least.”

            Garnet chuckled.  “So, you ready for your senior year with all of us crazy people?  I hear senior year can be trying,” she lightly teased.

            The dancer raised an eyebrow, rising to the challenge.  “Considering what I’ve already been through with you, I’m sure I can handle it.”

            A wide smirk formed on thick lips before she leaned forward and kissed Pearl on the cheek.  “I know you can.”

            Pearl rotated her head and pulled Garnet in for a kiss on the lips.  “I love you.”

            “I love you too.”

 

THE END

(For Now)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!!!! I hope you enjoyed the ending and the story overall. What was your favorite scene? Least favorite scene? You don't have to say :) This has been a great experience for me in writing and publishing this work. It's taken over a year since the beginning brainstorming to the final chapter posting. Again thank you for all your kind words, for coming and reading this with each chapter, and for being an awesome audience.
> 
> For those of you interested in the Bad Pearl/Officer Garnet keep an eye out for "Smoke and Grit" that will be coming either in November or December.
> 
> THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!


End file.
